The Teens of St Agnes
by RoyalVictory
Summary: When the wild girls of St. Agnes find out that the boys of another boarding school will be moving in with them due to budget cuts, they are less than pleased. They seem deadset on disagreeing. Until they find out the boarding school is in major debt. Will the teens be able to work together to find a solution? Or will their differences prove too much? Major AU. Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys I'm back! All the back to school sales are on, and do you know what that means? Well, it means I bought a shit ton of notebooks for my writing for a very, very low price. I have to write a rough draft and plan everything in a notebook or else my story just turns to crap. Not like you guys care or anything. I got inspiration for this story from a movie called St. Trinian's. It was really funny and good, you guys should chekck it out. Anyways here's some IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE STORY: I've made everyone the same age for simplicity's sake, the characters are all a little different than the ones in the show due to slightly different back stories (example: no one has powers and they're in boarding school), and I really, really, hope you guys enjoy it. Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. **

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Artemis's heels clicked against the old stone as she crossed the silent hall. Her ponytail swished around behind her and her stormy irises stared straight ahead. She opened the huge front wooden double doors to reveal a winding cobblestone driveway. A small fountain and statue of a beautiful woman sat in the middle on a circular patch of grass. The statue faced the giant field that stretched into a forest that then led to the highway. From there, it would take at least an hour to get to any town in any direction. The castle was completely and totally secluded, which was more than a little perfect for the school and it's patrons.

Artemis didn't need to glance up behind her to know what was there. Every window would be occupied by curious girls in unconventional uniforms; ones they had designed and altered themselves. Each one of those girls belonged to a certain group based on their _unique_ talents; Goths, Sweeties, Nerds, Firsties (first years), Flirts, or Indies (independents). St. Agnes School for young ladies was by no means an ordinary school.

The headmistress Diana Prince was already there waiting. Ms. Prince was a pretty woman with raven hair and blue eyes. She wore a very professional looking black skirt suit and her hair was up in some kind of complicated twist. Artemis wondered how long that would last before she went back to her usual apparel of a much shorter skirt and a shirt with a lot less buttons. Prince was tall and made even taller by her rebellious red high heels. She liked to look down on people; she said it was a quick and easy way to intimidate someone. Ms. Prince was a very good teacher.

"Ms. Crock," Prince said in greeting as she watched down the driveway, awaiting the arrival of the buses. The principle didn't meet her eye. Artemis wasn't sure how Prince felt about their current situation. She had been Artemis's headmistress for six years now and she had completely caught off guard when she made Megan second in command and even more surprised when Prince made Artemis head girl; the woman was very hard to read.

"Mistress Prince." Artemis responded.

"I called you down here because the boys from Chadington's-"Artemis snorted. Her headmistress looked at her.

"Oh come on it's a little funny. _Chadington's. _It's all very proper. I bet they're a bunch of snobs."

Prince fought back a smile. "I called you down here because the boys from Chadington's are arriving today, as you know. As head girl, it's your duty to show them to their rooms and give them a quick tour. Nothing special, just tell them what's on which floor. Welcome them. They're part of the student body now. Tell them the rules."

"Rules?" Artemis asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Well. Rule." She looked over at the head girl, "Oh, and Artemis? Tell your girls to lay off for the first few days. We wouldn't want to overwhelm them with your...adventurousness." As if on cue, the buses holding all the boys pulled up to the front of the school. To both women's amusement, all six buses were covered in bright paint splatter. It covered the windows and the doors and the tires too. Artemis had instructed her girls to leave the front windshield. She wanted the boys to see exactly what they were getting themselves into.

By now, her girls would be travelling around the castle. They'd walk through the forest in group formation, with paint ball guns at the ready. They would sneak in through the back, then upstairs, change and be presentable in seven minutes tops.

"It's a little late to hold off the pranks." Artemis told her with a smile. "Sorry."

"Oh well." The headmistress said. "Just no more for at least the first day. And make sure there're no girls lurking in the closet waiting for them. Remember the last time that happened? Marie nearly gave that poor man a heart attack. He had to go to the hospital."

Artemis smiled, "I remember. But that guy was an asshole. And he hit on Lance-"

"Ms. Lance."

"And he hit on Ms. Lance. He kind of deserved it."

"I'm not saying I agree with you, which I don't, but if I wasn't head mistress I'd think it was rather amusing." Ms. Prince allowed herself a small smile, "Now I have to go deal with their headmaster, Bruce Wayne. Apparently, he's quite the stick in the mud. Wish me luck." She went down the stairs and met him as he left the first bus. He was a broad shouldered man with jet black hair. He wore a very fancy, very stuffy looking suit. Ms. Prince led him inside with a smile. Meanwhile, the boys had gathered at the bottom of the stairs. They looked up at Artemis like curious children, wearing their little blazers and white button up shirts. Their hair was gelled down and combed and their shoes were spotless.

_So they're _this_ kind of school_, Artemis thought. _This should be fun._

Artemis was well aware on how strange St. Agnes's was. They lived in a medieval castle for goodness sakes. She was also very aware at how the boys were looking at her. She wore a high waisted pleated mini skirt with a black scooped neck vest, and white button up shirt. The top of her stockings could be seen with their little black suspenders that disappeared underneath her skirt. Her crimson tie was loose around her neck, coming up to under the three unbuttoned buttons of her shirt, and her hair was tugged back into its usual ponytail. Hardly a normal uniform. But really, with all the school's strangeness and grandeur, the boys stared at her like they had never seen a girl before. She'd bet if you took away the huge castle behind her, they'd still be giving her the same look. Artemis raised an unimpressed eyebrow at them.

"My name's Artemis Crock. Head girl. Get your shit and follow me." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked into the front hall. She heard the boys scramble to grab their bags and dash after her.

A boy caught up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked over at him. He had red hair and giant emerald eyes. His grin was goofy-trying-to-be-suave and he had exactly three freckles on each cheek. He might've been cute if not for the dorky uniform and rock hard hair style.

"Hey, Beautiful! Sorry, I didn't catch your name before-"

"Artemis Crock."

"I'm Wally West. Head boy."

Artemis looked forward again and kept walking. "Pleasure." She said in a bored tone. Before he could say anything else, she reached the stairs and cut him off. "Welcome to St. Agnes Castle." She said as she climbed, "We have seven floors, including the dungeons and top level. Dungeons are off limits. No exceptions. Ground floor and second floor are classrooms. Third floor's teacher's quarters. Fourth floor is you guys. Fifth is the girl's rooms. Sixth is the top floor. It's a giant open air walkway. What you'd expect on the top of a castle." She continued up the stairs, "The castle is easy to navigate. Every floor is just one large square around the courtyard so as long as you keep walking in one direction, you'll find your way to one of our two main staircases that will take you to any floor. The courtyard entrance is through some doors downstairs by the entrance hall." She stopped at the fourth floor, letting the boys catch up, sweating and lagging while Artemis was still breathing evenly. "You're free to explore the entire castle except for the dungeons and teacher's rooms. I wouldn't go to the girl's floor either. St. Agnes girls are a little...wild. As you probably learned from our welcome." The boys grumbled. "One last thing: this castle is full of secret passages and trap doors. If you happen to stumble across one, I'd stay out of it. There are tunnels that lead all the way to town and most of the tunnels we know about very quickly turn into mazes, built for security. But if you want to get lost, be my guest. It only took us nine hours to find the last guy. I know my girls are dying to break that record. Now, any questions?"

The boys looked around at the huge hallways. Each hallway was lined with doors that lead to the boy's rooms. The other side of the hall had windows that overlooked the courtyard. The walls and floors were cold grey stone and the ceilings were high above them with chandeliers that had been modified to support electrical lights.

"When's our curfew?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"Whenever you want."

"When do classes start?" Wally asked.

"Dunno. You'll get your schedules soon." When no other questions were raised she left.

The girl's floor had tall stone walls and long, musty crimson tapestries very much like every other floor. The only reason they weren't completely destroyed was the teachers would take them down and find the passages and rooms hidden behind. The floor was stone and windows lined the walls to overlook the courtyard. They were all open to let the breeze in. Doors lined the other side of the hall, all leading to the girl's dorms. Each room was big enough to hold about six girls.

On the fifth floor, things were vastly different from the quiet settling in beneath them. Girls ran and screamed all over. Some were painting the walls while others practiced their spitball aim with moving targets (other girls). A game of floor hockey was being played down the hall and if you looked out the window you could see a group of girls practicing martial arts on dummies that looked suspiciously like some school officials. Other girls had attached ropes from one side of the courtyard window to the other and were grappling across it. Artemis looked at them all and put two fingers in her mouth then blew loudly. Everyone froze.

"Excellent work on the welcome. You made ol'Aggy proud." She smirked as the girls cheered. When it died down, she continued. "But, Prince wants us to go easy on them. So we will." Loud groans rang out. "Hey! I wasn't done! Prince wants us to go easy so we will. For tonight. Let them unpack, settle in. Then they'll learn just how St. Agnes's young ladies behave." Loud cheering erupted again.

"I'm calling a meeting in the cave." No one moved. "_Now._" Girls scrambled to get the prefects. Artemis was one of the only people in the school (including teachers) that had that affect over them. The thing about Agnes girls was that they could smell fear; that just meant Artemis couldn't show any. They were a wild pack and like all wild packs, they needed a leader. In order to be that leader, Artemis had to keep a tight leash on them at all times.

Along with the head girl, Saint Agnes had three prefects, all chosen by the head mistress. Their names were Megan, Zatanna, and Raquel. It would happen that they were also best friends with Artemis. The three prefects all shared a large room while Artemis got one to herself since she was head girl. She also got a private common room which was nicknamed the Cave (no one really knew why).

By the time Artemis got there, her friends were waiting already. Zatanna had spread herself out on one of the old couches, Raquel was on an old fashioned plush chair, and Megan was sitting on the other couch. Artemis plopped down next to her, propping her feet up on the coffee table.

The room was large and warm with thick carpet under their feet and old, squishy furniture. Mostly, the colors were the school colours of deep crimson and black, but there were a few out of place touches from when the castle was first built. Like the white window ledge and fireplace.

"So, what were they like?" Zatanna asked as soon as Artemis had taken a seat.

"Very proper," Artemis said. Raquel snorted.

"How long do you think they'll be here before they bolt?"

Artemis smiled, "Not long."

"Poor boys." Megan said. "Did you talk to the head boy?"

"Yeah. Poor kid's name is _Wally._"

"Was he hot?" Zatanna asked.

"_Ew._ No." The girls laughed.

"Maybe we should _try _to be nice to them. It's not like they came here because they wanted to. It's not their fault they moved here." Megan said, sending the others a look. She was possibly the only responsible student in St. Agnes, which was probably the reason why she was Artemis's second in command.

"It's not like we don't have the room for them, I guess. We live in a fucking castle, for goodness sakes," Raquel said as she drummed her fingers on her knee. The girls mumbled their agreement. "I wonder what they're doing."

Zatanna sat up excitedly, "I installed some cameras in the halls yesterday. Wanna go see?"

Raquel stood, "Yes." Artemis sighed and stood after them. Even Megan was too curious to object. The girl walked back into the warzone that was the hallway. Girls hung from the chandeliers and one girl was holding another out a window.

"How many times have I told you, Ingrid," Artemis sighed as she passed her, "Don't lift with your back. Extend your knees." Ingrid did as she was told. The girls turned into the surveillance room.

The room was probably about the size of a large closet. The walls were covered entirely with monitors and one long, curved desk took up most of the space.

"Shoo shoo," Zatanna said to the girls who were in there. They all got up and left. Megan took the seat next to Zatanna and Raquel took the one on her other side. Artemis leaned down between Zatanna and Raquel as Zatanna typed something. The image of the guy's hallway came up and Zatanna used a joystick to zoom in on people.

"Look at him, his hair looks like a brick!" Raquel said.

"Eugh, they all look like that," Megan said. "I think it might be part of their uniform."

"Poor souls." Zatanna remarked as she swung the camera around. "Which one's head boy?"

"Um...there." Artemis poked at the screen after looking for him. Zatanna zoomed in. Wally stood with three other boys, one was tall with bright blue eyes, the next was dark skinned with a pleasant smile, and the third was short with black hair. Wally was laughing at something the short guy said and he had ditched his blazer.

"I think he's kinda cute." Raquel said. Artemis sent her a look.

"Oh, what about him? He has potential. If not for the monkey suit," Zatanna pointed to the short guy standing next to Wally.

"We aren't here to scout out guys. I want to know what they're talking about. Zee, you got any audio?" Artemis asked.

"I should but I don't think it's working. We'll need someone to go down and plant it." Zatanna bit her lip as she typed.

"Someone or something?" Artemis looked at their resident computer nerd.

A grin spread across Zatanna's face, "I'll get Cooper."

Ten minutes later, they had fastened the camera to Ms. Lance's dog, Cooper. Ms. Lance was the school guidance councillor, she taught something too but Artemis wasn't sure what it was. Cooper was supposed to put the girls at ease when they went to talk to her or something. Everyone knew that was bullshit. Lance just wanted her dog and frankly, no one really cared.

Cooper was a brown cockapoo puppy that wore a black collar that the girls had long since attached a camera to. He was a very happy dog, but favoured sleep and food over anything and everything. They attached a tiny audio spider Raquel made. It could be controlled by a remote to let go of the collar and walk to hide. It was tiny, no bigger than a thumb nail. Raquel was good with making machines and Zatanna was good at the programming and controlling them. That's why the two made such a dynamic duo.

They watched the camera on Cooper's collar bounce up and down. It stopped at some spotless shoes. Someone kneeled in front of the camera.

"Drop the spider." Artemis said. Zatanna did as she was told and scurried it down and away. Now they had sound. Just in time, too.

"Boys! Boys! Listen up." Zatanna switched back to the first camera and angled it so they could see Wally had stood on something to see above the crowd. "Thanks. So I know you're all bummed about having to come here, but come on. I mean we're living in a castle with a whole floor to ourselves. No curfew, no classes at least for a while. And if all the girls are half as hot as their head girl then we are going to be surrounded by gorgeous girls all year long." Zatanna laughed outright at that and slapped Artemis's knee. Artemis narrowed her eyes. Wally continued, "All I'm saying is that it could be a hell of a lot worse. Besides, I wouldn't worry about the supposed 'wild' girls of St. Agnes. So they painted our bus. Big deal. The old paint job sucked, anyways. We'll be running this school in no time." The other boys laughed and some shouted their agreement.

"Psh." Zatanna said.

"That was rude," Megan added.

"I'm gonna punch him in the face." Raquel said bluntly.

"Did he really just say that?!" The girls whipped around at the unexpected voice. Almost the entirety of the female student body stood at the door, looking furious.

"Run the school!? We'll show him who runs the school!" Someone in the crowd yelled. Before Artemis could stop them, they bolted to the stairs. Raquel and Zatanna joined the angry mob of girls running to the stairs. These girls didn't take insults like that lightly.

Artemis sighed, "I should probably go get them before they kill all of the boys." She stood.

"Good luck!" Megan said. Artemis looked back at her.

"What kind of second in command are you?"

"A smart one." Both girls laughed and Artemis left. She descended the stairs to find utter chaos- nothing short of what she had expected. She stopped on the stairs and assessed the situation. She whistled loudly and everyone froze.

"Girls." Her voice was deadly quiet, "You should be ashamed of yourselves." She paused and stared them all down, "Ganging up on these boys two to one. What is it that Ms. Prince tells us?"

"If you can't fight alone you can't fight at all." The girls chorused.

"So you haven't forgotten. Could've fooled me. Upstairs. Now. I'll deal with you later."

"But Artemis! What about what he said?" One of the first years said.

Artemis looked at her, "I'll handle it. Now up." The girls shuffled past her and Wally stomped over to her.

"What the hell-"Artemis cut him off when she punched him clear across the jaw and he fell to his butt.

"'Running this school in no time?' Let's just say my girls don't take kindly to insults." She told him with a glare, crossing her arms. "I'd put some ice on that. Kitchen's on the second floor." She stomped to the stairs but turned back again. "Oh, and Wally? Were the other girls half as hot as me?" The boys made a low 'ooh' sound as Artemis went up.

All the girls were running around, getting ice and talking excitedly when she walked in. Artemis grabbed some ice and put it on her knuckles. She stopped to look at the girls, who froze when they saw her.

"I can respect defending your honor. I can respect getting in a fight. But never ganging up on someone who's not fighting back. I never want to see that again." Artemis glared them all down.

"Hey, Artemis. Didja get him?" Someone in the crowd asked timidly. Artemis allowed them a small smile and held up her bruised and bleeding knuckles.

"Does that answer your question?" The girls cheered. Artemis sighed, "I want you all in bed in half an hour. Or at least pretend to be. Prince'll hear about this by then. She can't yell at us if we're all asleep. In the meantime, come up with an excuse so as to why we just started that sad excuse for a fight. We can hardly tell Prince we have security cameras and can hear whatever insults they say about us. Good night girls." Artemis turned and went straight to her room, where she collapsed on the bed. She was exhausted.

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**One last thing: I've gotten a tumblr! My link is on my profile and I'd really love if you guys checked it out! I might start posting drabbles I've written in class on there and I will be talking about updates on stories. Thanks so much and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Wow, I was overwhelmed with how many people liked this story. I honestly didn`t think it would be that popular. Thank you everyone who reviewed or liked or followed or even just looked at it. I hope you enjoy it and please review!**

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Artemis rose earlier than usual the next morning. She got dressed her usual uniform then marched to the boy's floor. She walked past scrambling guys in boxers and guys whispering and pointing at her without so much as giving them a second glance. She knew they were talking about how she punched their head boy and how the girls had come down in a fury. Artemis wasn't mad about it, not even vaguely annoyed. But she did get a headache just thinking about the talk Prince would want to have with her, then afterwards she would have to go to Lance's office to listen to tips on keeping her girls in line. She'd had to repeat this routine at least half a dozen times this year. Artemis was sure they didn't care about the girl's antics, that it was more for show than anything. No one really knew why, but there had been school board officials sniffing around the past few weeks. Artemis knew the school had gotten some kind of anonymous tip about the school. She had told her girls to not let them see them doing anything but learning.

Artemis raised her good hand and knocked loudly on the head boy's door. When no one answered immediately, she turned her fist and beat the side of it against the door. Artemis almost hit Wally when he opened it. She retracted her hand and crossed her arms, cocking a hip. Wally was wearing only boxers and his hair was a mess. A purple bruise spread across the left side of his jaw. When he saw her, he glared.

"What do you want, harpy?" His voice was a little husky too. She had probably just woke him up.

"Harpy? Very clever." She said sarcastically. "I want to talk to you. Head student to head student." Wally's eyebrows met in the middle.

"After your girls attacked my men _and_ you punched me with no reason?"

"Oh, did I bruise your pride?" Artemis asked in a baby voice. She pushed past him and into his room. Miraculously, the place was already a mess. It was like he had taken everything from his suitcase and chucked it into the air then let it fall where it would. Artemis walked over to lean on his cluttered desk. She crossed her arms. "Something you should know about Agnes girls: you hurt their pride, they hurt you. It's a rule of thumb here." Artemis told him matter-of-factly. "My girls acted the way they did because they were pissed and you'll have to deal with it. It was partly your fault, you know." She tucked some loose hair behind her ear, "and I'm not gonna apologise for punching you. I did have a reason, you know. Us girls have to defend our honor somehow. What better way than getting their head girl to punch the guy who said that he would, and I quote, 'run this school in no time.'" She said, "Besides, I was pissed too," She crossed her arms, "I'm hosting a meeting with my girls today. You bring your best boys with you and we'll host it together."

"And what would this meeting be about?" He snapped.

Artemis smiled, "Getting you guys back wherever you came from. You won't have to deal with us and we won't have to deal with you. Everybody's happy."

Wally snorted, but something in his eyes said he was interested. "How do you propose we get out of here?"

Artemis rolled her stormy irises. "That's why we have the meeting. St. Agnes girls always get their way." Artemis stood up straight and walked to the door. "I'll send a girl to bring you guys to the meeting room in twenty minutes. Get dressed."

Wally looked down on himself and Artemis saw the tips of his ears redden, as if he just realized he was only in his boxers. She left before he could look up at her again and walked back down the hall then up the stairs. She woke up all of her girls and her prefects and summarized what she had set up with Wally. She picked the three oldest grades to accompany her, about fifty girls. When they heard they had roughly ten minutes to get their asses downstairs to the meeting room, most were sent into a flurry of panic. Artemis sent the rest of her girls to go and distract the school board people. She wanted them to think nothing out of the norm was going on so she had them on a pre planned schedule. First they would go to breakfast, and then they would spread themselves thin throughout the castle. It would be very difficult for them to keep up with all the girls. Artemis just hoped that Wally would have the same sense.

She sent one of the more innocent looking first years (just in case) to bring the boys to the second level. There was a room with a stage and podium there; it was used for public speaking (yeah, right), random singing and partying (which really wasn't all that uncommon), and assemblies (in the rare instances that they had one). It was big enough to hold a ton of people, perfect for what they needed at the moment.

About fifty boys came and sat down. Wally took the place next to Artemis at the podium.

"You know why you're here so let's get to it. Any suggestions?" Artemis told the crowd with her usual cold discipline.

"How about we get them all expelled? We could do a bunch of shit then blame it on them." A girl in the back suggested. She didn't look up as she said it; instead she was focused on herself in a small compact mirror as she perfected her flawless red lipstick.

Wally got this annoyed look on his face and was about to snap something at her when Artemis cut him off. "No, that wouldn't work. We should've been expelled years ago for half the stuff we've done," she said. The girl shut her compact and tugged on a tight curl. She let out an annoyed sigh.

"Why don't we just ask to go back?" A boy said. He looked like every other boy in the room, impeccable uniform and gelled back hair. It was a stark contrast to the other side of the room, where girls in every outfit, colour, and hairstyle sat.

"Clever boy. While we're at it why don't we just ask for a million dollars?" Raquel said sarcastically from her seat next to Megan. Zatanna had opted to stay upstairs to watch the camera feeds.

"Well I don't see you volunteering any bright ideas," he spat back. The boys around him nodded their agreement. Artemis _felt _the girls's annoyance.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you how to talk to a lady?" One of the girls said. A goth, she was wearing an entirely back uniform with black lipstick and eyeliner. She was grinding her teeth.

"Of course. But I don't see any ladies here." A different boy responded. There was almost an immediate uproar and a screaming match ensued. Artemis had a feeling they only stayed on their sides of the room because of the head student's presences. She rubbed her temples. Someone tugged on Artemis's skirt.

"Artemis?" Artemis looked down to see a little first year.

"Yes, Kelly?" The first year tucked some of her black bob behind her ears.

"Zatanna wants to see you. Says it's urgent."

Artemis nodded curtly then looked at Megan. "Keep them from killing each other?"

"I can try!" She said brightly.

Wally pointed at a dark skinned boy in the front row on the boy's side, "Kaldur, you too?"

"Of course." Kaldur said. Wally followed Artemis out without invitation. Artemis sent a glare over her shoulder but he just glared back. Artemis decided to ignore him.

They turned onto the girl's floor, where Wally looked around at the slight destruction. Any girls that were in the halls glared at Wally. A few even growled. Artemis snapped at them to get back to their coffins and they trudged off. Even the floor hockey game at the end of the hall had paused momentarily. They turned into the surveillance room where Wally looked around in amazement, "So this is how you heard me. You guys were spying on us."

Artemis glared. "Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same," she snapped.

"I can feel the love in the air," Zatanna said dreamily. Artemis picked up a pen and chucked it at her friend.

"Zatanna, Wally, Wally, Zatanna." Artemis introduced the two then walked past the monitors she'd seen a million times before, straight to Zatanna. Wally was still looking around at the monitors. "What's up, Zee?" Artemis asked as she leaned over her shoulder.

"Wayne just went into a meeting with Prince and this land developer, Rufus Foster."

"That's the guy that sent in that tip to the school board, right?" Artemis said.

"What tip?" Wally asked. Artemis restrained from rolling her eyes.

"Some guy called in and said we were savage. Just so happens it was the day after he came to try to buy land off Prince, but she wanted nothing of it." Artemis said, "The idiot also forgot to tell them he wanted to stay anonymous."

Zatanna nodded, "He came back today and I wanted to see what they were talking about, so I stayed behind. Well, the meeting's started and you aren't going to like it." Zatanna sent her a grave look then turned up the volume.

"Well I just wanted to welcome-" Ms. Prince started but was cut off when a small, rat-like man with large glasses and a larger nose began to talk.

"No need for kissing my bottom, Ms. Prince. It's too late."

Prince looked a little crestfallen but raised a defiant eyebrow all the same. "No need for interrupting me either. That's just rude. And the last thing I would ever want to do in this world is 'kiss your bottom.'" Headmaster Wayne, who was sitting with them, snorted into his tea.

"I beg your pardon, Ms. Prince. I did not mean to offend-"

"A bit late for that," Prince snapped. She yanked the tea cup away from him when he reached for it. Foster looked up at her with an annoyed expression.

"You never told us your purpose for scheduling this meeting with us," Bruce interrupted, glaring Rufus down.

"Very to the point, Mr. Wayne. I can respect that." Rufus said appreciatively. Wayne shot him a blank look. Rufus cleared his throat, "Well I came here to make you an offer you can't refuse."

Suddenly, Ms. Prince slammed down the teapot she had been holding. "No. My answer was no the first time and my answer is still no now."

"But, Miss-"

"_No_. Get out."

"Either you can sell it to me, or lose it to the school board. You've been in debt for months now and-"

"I know very well what the financial situation of the school is, thank you Mr. Foster. Out." Ms. Prince snapped.

"But-"

"She said get out." Wayne had stood and was looking down on Rufus. He gulped and stood.

"Fine. But you'll be sorry! You could've gotten money out of this dump. But if you'd rather just let the bank take it then it's your own fault! I'll just buy it from them at a much lower price, I'm sure." Prince turned around and chucked a tea cup at him, which he only narrowly avoided. Prince wasn't exactly known for her sweet temper.

"That's assault!" Rufus said, pointing a long boney at Prince and looking at Wayne.

Wayne took a calm sip of his tea, "I didn't see anything."

Artemis turned on her heel and ran out the door quickly, scanning the hall. She found a group of Goths, some first years, and the hockey players. She went straight for the Goths. "Girls! There's a dickhead on his way out of Prince's office. Go to the entrance and freak him out. Stare at him or something, but don't touch." The girls smiled creepily and went to do as she told them. She bolted back into the room.

"I just feel so bad for the kids. It's not fair to them." Prince was saying. Wayne picked up the smashed pieces of tea cup and threw them out.

"What can we do? It's not our fault the school board cut funding." Wayne sat next to her on the couch.

"And even after all that money you gave them, it still wasn't enough. I can't believe they would shove them all into one school them split them up after a week." The headmistress brought up her hand to massage the back of her neck. She shut her eyes.

"A week?" The headmaster sounded surprised.

"Well, they have a week tomorrow." Prince opened her eyes and stood up, gathering the cups and dishes. Wayne stood up to help.

"Are you sure we can't do more?"

"No. I've already called dozens of times but they just ignore me. The only one who actually answers my calls is that creep, and all he wants to do is knock down the castle and build some resort. It makes me sick. There's no way around it." She sighed heavily, "St. Agnes is closing."

Artemis clenched her jaw. She looked at Zatanna, who looked back at her just as shocked. Artemis wiped her face clean of emotions and stood up straight.

"Not if I can help it. Ginger, come on." She said as she started to the door. When Wally didn't follow she turned back, grabbed his arm, and dragged her with him. "That means you." Zatanna stood up and followed them. The trio went back down to the conference room. Everyone was still fighting when Artemis got to the podium. She silenced the girls with a look. When the boys realized the girls had stopped, they shut up too.

"Listen up. Change of plans. There's no way we'll be getting the boys out of here. St. Agnes is closing." Artemis said. There were collective gasps from the girls.

"Hey, guys. I don't know why you're smirking. Closing this school means _everyone_ gets split up to different schools. Not just the girls." Wally snapped at the boys. They sobered up right away.

"That doesn't mean we're just going to give up. The closure is because of funding cuts. We find the money, we keep the school. Any ideas?" Artemis said. She drummed her fingers on the podium.

"We could ask our parents." A boy offered.

Wally shook his head. "Too much time, not enough money. Not even Wayne's fortune would help us. We only have a week." He said.

"Why don't we kidnap someone for ransom?! And every day they don't give the money we take another person until we have a whole ton of them. Then we sell them back to the families, person by person." A girl suggested. Everyone looked at her with varying degrees of horror.

"...No. No Marie. We won't be kidnapping anyone." Artemis said slowly.

"We could rob a bank!" Another girl suggested brightly.

"Out of our league." Artemis shook her head lightly.

"What about the gold?" Zatanna asked. She had followed them downstairs and was seated in the front. Her legs were crossed at the knee and she had tilted her head curiously.

"But that's been lost forever. No one knows where it is. It's not called the lost treasure for nothing." Raquel said.

"And there's no solid proof that it's even real." Artemis added with a pointed eyebrow raise.

"Treasure?" Wally looked at Artemis to his left.

Zatanna leaned back in her chair. "I'll give you the abridged version," Zatanna began, "Little known fact: St. Agnes, the builder of this castle and patron saint of our lovely school, started out as a pirate. She had this huge command over _thousands_ of ships and she was a chick, which is just super awesome. Well one day she gets sick of pirating and plundering so she decides to make off with all her treasure while she can. She gives a ship to each of her most loyal crew then sells the rest and doubles her fortune," Zatanna said, "Agnes builds this castle then sells her last ship. But, just as settles down with all these maids and servants when she hears of a plot to kill her for her gold. Piracy always instilled a kind of extreme paranoia in someone, so without even waiting to see if the plot's true or not, Agnes just vanishes. She disappears with her gold, which is pretty impressive cause there was a_ lot;_ like it took several boats just to hold it all. So she's gone for a good ten years, all the while sending money to keep the castle going. She comes back with only enough money to keep her until she dies and does all the stuff that make her a saint in the last years of her life. But the point is, no one knows where the rest of her treasure vanished to and no one knows where she was for those ten years. Some say she was travelling and some say she was married to some lord, which I don't buy at all. But others say that she was actually in the castle the whole time. That's why she kept it running. She hid in secret rooms and only came out at night. They also say the treasure is right here, in this very castle." Zatanna had spoken very quickly. She was panting slightly.

"A child's tale. And not very well told, either," Artemis said, the last part teasing. She was trying to lift the spirits of the crestfallen students around her.

"Wait! It's no child's tale, Artemis. I read they found the first clue to the treasure ages ago." Megan said. She stood up suddenly. "I'll be right back." She darted off, leaving everyone in an awkward silence. Megan came back a few minutes later, holding a laptop. She showed the two heads a newspaper article online. Artemis skimmed it quickly, the hopeful eyes of students on her and Wally. Megan was right. The first clue had been found in the grand library in town and was currently on display in the museum.

"It sounds like our best chance. I say we give it a shot," Wally said. He had finished moments before her. She read the last few lines.

Artemis nodded, "I agree. Even though it could all be a hoax. A cleverly forged one, yes, but still a hoax. Just don't you get your hopes up." Artemis scanned the room, "Now we just have to figure out a way to go to town without arousing suspicion. And we have to figure out how to keep this up without the teachers finding out. And we have to do it as soon as possible." She tapped her chin as she thought.

Just then, Ms. Lance burst into the room. She was smiling. "Hey guys. Hope I'm not interrupting but I have some exciting news for you. The school board is holding a junior Olympics for all the schools in the area and St. Agnes has been invited! I have a signup sheet here."

"Can we finish our meeting then return it to you later?" Artemis asked a little tiredly.

"Course, but I need it back tonight. The opening ceremonies are tomorrow in town. Make sure you're all up bright and early!"Lance said with her usual excitement.

"In town?" Artemis said. She looked at Wally.

Wally looked at Artemis. "And tomorrow." Wally responded. The two heads exchanged smiles.

The guidance counsellor left and Artemis continued. She looked over the sheets.

"It says heads have to participate but anyone else is welcome to." She put the list on the podium and looked back up at her audience.

"If as many of us as possible enter, no one will notice a few people slipping away to the museum." Wally reasoned.

""Then it's settled. I want to see this sheet completely full. We go to the tournament." Artemis paused, a smile growing on her face, "And we won't just _go _to the tournament. We are St. Agnes girls, after all. What are we going to do at this tournament?"

"**WIN." **The girls screamed.

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you."

"**WIN.**"

"St. Agnes!"

"**HOOTHOOTHOOTHOOTHOOTHOOT!" **The girls stomped their feet and yelled. Some even swung baseball bats and hockey sticks in the air.

The yelling died down and Artemis spoke one last time. "And boys? That means you too. You're Agnes kids now." She paused, a wicked smile taking her lips, "Being an Agnes kid doesn't just mean acting like one. It means looking like one too. Ladies, do you know what this means? It's time for a makeover." Wally looked at her and swallowed. Artemis reached up and ruffled her hand in Wally's hair, taking it away sticky. "And we'll start with the hair gel."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much everyone for the reviews/follows/favourites. They all mean so much to me! This chapter is for everyone affected by Isaac, I really hope you're okay! Please review.**

**-RoyalVictory**

* * *

The girls gathered around at their usual table the next morning at breakfast. They set down their trays and stepped over onto the one side of the bench. Zatanna spotted Wally and his friends in the buffet line and waved them over. As they sat on the opposite side of the bench, Wally introduced them.

Conner was tall and broad shouldered. Megan had talked him into ditching his blazer yesterday and instead of wearing dress pants he wore dark wash jeans and a leather jacket over his white button down and crimson tie. Dick had lost his tie and blazer and was short with jet black hair. Kaldur kept everything but the tie and had unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt. He was dark skinned with blonde hair. Wally had ditched his blazer, his shirt sleeves were pushed up to his elbow, and his tie was loose. Not a single boy wore hair gel. Her girls had held a bonfire yesterday and burned it all. They had also burned all those atrocious canary yellow sweater vests. It was all for the best.

"I'm Artemis, this is Zatanna, Raquel, and Megan." Artemis said as she pointed to each of her friends in turn with her spoon. "Let's get to it. Which of you guys are competing?" She took a bite of her cereal.

"I am. Gymnastics; uneven bars." Dick said as he cut up his pancakes. Artemis eyed him and decided his small stature would be ideal for it.

"500 meter hurdles." Wally said. She wouldn't have pinned him as the running type. He was lean and still muscular. He did have a runner's build, which couldn't be a bad thing Artemis decided. As long as they brought home gold, she didn't care.

"I'm in the fifty arrow archery course." Artemis said. Archery was second nature to her. She'd been practicing it ever since she started at St. Agnes, way back in grade four. "These three are staying out on my request so all three are available whenever I need them too. I think all of us should be able to get to the museum with ease before the ceremonies. We can just slip of our waiting rooms. Lance'll want to get there early as possible so we'll have time to kill in there." She pulled her out an old book and set it on the table. "I found this in the library late last night. The rules state that every athlete must be at their stations an hour prior. That gives us plenty of time to do what we need to. We'll all be able to sneak off to the museum with ease."

Megan shook her head, "I don't think we should all go. Even if we are early, we can't have both heads and all the prefects missing. I'll stay back. I can rein the girls in too, if need be." She took a bite of her oatmeal.

"Maybe one of my guys should stay back too, then." Wally said thoughtfully as he bit into his sixth piece of toast. Artemis eyed his still stuffed plates with a bit of disgust.

"I will." Conner volunteered.

"Then it's settled. Dick, me, Kaldur, Artemis, Zatanna, and Raquel will go." Wally said.

"Are you _ever _full?" Artemis asked when Wally helped himself to an apple from the bowl on the table.

"Never." Dick said. "You get used to it."

"No, I don't think I will." Artemis eyed Wally. She snatched a piece of bacon on his plate and ignored his glare.

Just then, the bell ran to tell them it was time to go. The already loud hall got louder by the sound of people pushing and shoving through the crowd, but they parted when Artemis and Wally's group came past. They dumped their garbage out and put the plates in the big containers at the end of the hall.

Everyone went outside to the large, red and black buses. The group claimed the back seats of the first bus and got the two first years behind the wheel to drive off before any of the teachers could board it. The bus was full of girls yelling and screaming, hanging off bag racks, and holding on tight as the first years exceeded the speed limits by at least a hundred kilometers. Other than Wally, Dick, Kaldur, and Conner, there were no boys in sight. They must've chosen to sit on a different bus by themselves, probably still a bit bitter over the whole fight thing. Artemis thought they should just get _over _it already. It was just a little fight. No matter, the teachers could get on with them. Artemis had told her girls to keep the teachers nice and busy on the buses, and had Wally tell his boys too. He had been a little against it at first but when Artemis told him her reasoning he agreed soon enough. They needed the teachers to stay completely out of their plans; the less they knew the better.

The entire school would be going for the opening ceremonies and every event. It was pretty much perfect for them actually; good cover if they needed to slip away and if they needed to search the school for whatever reason it would be empty. It would be very difficult to notice eight students missing in about three hundred.

When the bus started moving, Zatanna sat next to Artemis and Megan next to Raquel in front of them. Zatanna leaned her head against the window and went to sleep for the hour ride to town. Artemis kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under her. She pulled out another old book she found in the library about St. Agnes and began to read.

Apparently, Agnes was said to be extremely egotistical, she was very greedy (less so in the later years of her life), and she was able to read and write – something that came in very handy while pirating and making her treasure hunt. There were a hundred different descriptions of her but the most accurate one was supposed to be the statue outside St. Agnes. She tried to remember what it looked like, but was only able to conjure up round green eyes and a sharp nose. Artemis was suddenly very glad she hadn't let the girls use it as target practice last week.

An hour and only a few crazy swerves later they reached the little town of Rosscove. Rosscove was extremely small and extremely old, but it attracted a lot of tourism because of its beach and famous museum. The grand library was supposed to be one of the largest in a hundred mile radius, there was a small shopping center too that some girls snuck off often too (Artemis didn't care as long as they told her before they went), and a stadium they used for the local high school football team. The place was so small that the roads were dirt in most places and a new building hadn't been built in about fifty years.

The bus rolled to a stop and the girls thundered off, as usual. The girls swarmed in a huge mob as they bolted to the doors of the school, waving baseball bats and hockey sticks and screaming. The boys followed suit, albeit a bit less wild. Intimidation tactics? What intimidation tactics?

Artemis, Wally, Raquel, Dick, and Kaldur slipped out and to the other side of the bus while Conner and Megan walked calmly after the mob. They waited until the entire school had disappeared into the building with the teachers either running wildly with them or trailing behind. The small team hurried into the museum.

"Oh no; it seems we have forgotten to bring money for tickets." Kaldur exclaimed.

"We don't need it. Come on." Artemis said. "Raquel. You're up." Raquel nodded and went to the front desk. She pulled a map off the pile of tourist information and held it up in front of the clerk. She started to chat away in Spanish and trailed off into English every once in a while, asking for directions and anything else she could think to link to it (she somehow got to the topic of bears). She held up the map with one hand and used the other to wave her friends through under the lip of the desk as she talked on, barely pausing for breath.

They all bolted through the entrance without the front clerk noticing. Distantly, they heard Raquel say. "Oh wait. This _is _the museum, isn't it? Silly me. Thanks!" Then she walked in, leaving the poor confused clerk to try to figure out what just happened.

Raquel tossed Artemis a museum map she had swiped with the town map. Artemis opened it and examined it. "It says all the pirate stuff is upstairs in the left wing."

Dick checked his watch, "We'll have to be quick or we'll be missed."

"No we won't. The girls have instructions to drag it out until we get there. And Agnes girls are good at knowing how to slow it down." Zatanna said with a saucy wink at him. One of Zatanna's favourite pastimes was making people uncomfortable. Dick swallowed and the girls laughed.

"C'mon, we have a job to do," Artemis said with a smile. The group went upstairs. "Spread out in pairs. It'll be here somewhere. And remember, don't do anything noticeable. We don't want to be remembered. Don't ask questions either. Just go about your business. If you find it, yawn."

Everyone split up and Artemis found herself somehow with Wally. She scanned the room and saw Zatanna and Dick and Raquel and Kaldur walking together in pairs. _Traitors_, she thought only somewhat sarcastically.

"How did you know all that stuff?" Wally asked as they examined the various cabinets.

"What stuff?"

"Like distracting the guard and sneaking away from the teachers."

She gave him a mysterious smile. "This ain't our first rodeo, West." Artemis told him. They continued until Raquel yawned loud enough to wake up the Queen of England. Artemis and Wally walked over to her and her and Kaldur moved onto the next cabinet. Except it wasn't the clue they saw, instead a little card.

_Here rested the first clue to Agnes James's treasure. This artefact was deemed unavailable for viewing at this time due to its extreme age and brittleness. A new and exciting artefact will be added very soon. _Then there was the logo of the museum_._

"Tragic, isn't it?" Artemis and Wally jumped at the sudden voice. They turned to see an elderly female guard. She had circular pine tree coloured eyes and a sharp hooked nose. There was a sad look on her face. "I've worked here for twenty eight years and never once have they sold an artefact."

"Sold? It says here it's in storage." Wally said.

"Yes. Oh, don't believe the mumbo jumbo about it being too old. They have stuff hundreds of years older than that clue and they're just fine." She looked at the two. "What did you say your names were?"

Artemis spoke before Wally could. "We didn't. I'm Alice Liddel, and this is Lou. Lou Carrol." Artemis answered for both of them, holding out her hand. The woman shook it carefully, then Wally's. Wally sent Artemis a look out of the corner of his eye. "Did you say it was sold?"

"Yes. To some evil little man. He paid the museum thousands for it. I wouldn't be surprised if the cheque bounced. He's even paying for a new wing, which he probably won't even go through with."

"Do you know his name?" Artemis asked politely. The old woman nodded slowly.

"Yes...it was Ratfus Fester. No, that's not it. Rat..ray..Rufus! Rufus Foster."

Artemis and Wally exchanged a look. Wally said, "Do you know if he took it yet?"

"No...He's supposed to bring it tomorrow, I believe. The curator just put that out this morning. Why do you ask?"

"I'm kind of a history buff." Artemis said with a smile, "I thought it'd be fascinating to see."

The old woman smiled at her, all crooked teeth and wrinkles. "Son, you should hold onto this one. She's a keeper."

"Oh, we aren't-" Wally began. Artemis slung her arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Don't be modest, sweetie. Boys, you know." Artemis rolled her eyes good naturedly. Artemis had to hold back a sigh of relief when Wally decided to play along and sling his arm across her shoulders.

"Thanks so much," he said, "for everything." Artemis turned them both and they left. As soon as they were in the lobby they jumped away from each other like they had the plague.

"What was that about?" Wally exclaimed as they walked to their waiting party.

"If anyone does ask her about us, they'll be looking for a nonexistent couple named Alice LIddel and Lou Carrol. Not two heads of the only school for miles named Artemis Crock and Wally West. Try to keep up." They met the group again and told them the news as they headed to the stadium.

"So ol' Rufus is looking for the treasure too. Probably wants the school because he thinks it's there." Raquel said.

"Makes me want it that much more. That guy's a little shithead." Zatanna added.

"What are we going to do now? We can't exactly find it without the first clue." Conner asked.

"We're still going to get it." Raquel said. "Just a little more... carefully."

"And we'll have to do it tonight. We can do it as soon as the ceremonies end." Zatanna said.

"What do you plan on doing when we get caught?" Wally asked.

"Simple. We _won't_. This is St. Agnes. Agnes girls are legendary. Besides, it's nothing we haven't done before." Artemis said with a sly smile.

"What kind of school is this?" Dick asked with a curious crooked smile. The girls just smirked at him.

In Artemis's opinion, the opening ceremonies were too long and too boring. They went through an insanely short and repetitive history of Rosscove then introduced every single athlete and put a picture of them up on the big screen, which was a hundred for St. Agnes alone (Artemis had made sure they filled all available slots). With nine other schools competing, it seemed to drag on forever (they seemed to have the same idea as Artemis – for different reasons, of course). And they couldn't even slip away because Prince and Lance were sitting right next to the only accessible exit.

Once they were finally nearing the end, Artemis turned to the girl behind her. "I want everyone to break off into groups of five to six. Spread apart and make it very difficult for Prince and the other teachers to round you up. For every group they catch I want five gone. I'll signal when we need to rally. When you hear the signal, repeat it. Pass it on. I want you, Jackie, Tanya, and Primrose to follow us."

"Yes m'am." She said with a smile and turned to the girl beside her. Now that the message was being passed on, she turned back to face Zatanna on her right, "Zee I have a plan. I want you to come with me and Alana, Jackie, Tanya, and Primrose. They'll distract the security and we'll-"

"I want to come." Wally had leaned over from Artemis's left.

"Why?" Artemis asked with annoyance. No one ever questioned her plans.

"Because I'm not letting you girls go alone. God knows what you'll get into. Someone needs to be sure you don't steal some kind of priceless artefact. And if you get caught, then we're all in shit. I'm head boy. I'm going."

"Fine." Artemis snapped. "Here's what we'll do. The girls will distract the security. The place will be close by now so we'll have to be sneaky. Zee, you'll bypass any security codes if need be. We'll travel by vents to the curator's office. You can lower me down."

"With what rope?" Wally asked.

"There's always rope in the bus." Zatanna told him. She smirked, "You know, always be prepared."

The moment the ceremonies were over, the girls followed their orders. It was so organized it would've looked planned but the other schools were making a mad dash for the exit and provided the perfect cover. Artemis wondered briefly on how they would react if they knew they were helping one of their competitors. Her money was on they wouldn't be too pleased. Oh well, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

From there, it was easy for the group to slip away unnoticed. They stopped quickly at the bus to get the rope and get some other clothes. Zatanna and Artemis grabbed black pants and long sleeve shirts. Artemis tucked her hair into a toque and slung a backpack over her shoulder. Wally stood uselessly outside the bus. They'd have to be careful with him. They didn't have any guy clothes and none of the girl's clothes would fit him.

"Wait!" Tanya exclaimed, "I have some guy clothes in there. A sweater I think."

"Why do you have that?" Primrose asked.

"I think it's Drew's. Or Mark's. Or that blonde guy's. Oh, remind me to tell you about him. He was-"

"Uh- the sweater?" Wally interrupted.

Tanya giggled, "Oh yeah!" Tanya ran onto the bus where the girls were changing and handed it to him once she got out. He pulled the hoodie over his head. The girls came out and Artemis nailed him in the face with a toque.

"Cover up that hair of yours. It's a dead giveaway." She told him.

"I think it's cute," Primrose said. She winked at him. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Remember the objective, Primrose."

"Sorry, Artemis. That's my fault. No girl can resist the Wallman." Wally said with a smirk. Artemis raised her eyebrow.

"Wallman? Cute." She said sarcastically. Wally glowered. "Come on, let's get there before Prince can round everyone up."

They all walked outside the museum then stopped outside it. "Girls, I want you to distract them until we get in there. Stay if you want but if you leave you leave together and if you stay, you stay together. If you do stay when you hear the signal, come. No ifs, ands, or buts." The girls nodded then went inside. Artemis held the door open a tiny crack. The girls flirted with the twenty-something year old guards until finally coaxing them off to show them the exhibits because they thought smart guys who liked history were "hot".

"Now's our window, go." The trio bolted into the museum and Artemis leapt onto the front desk. She jumped up and grabbed the vent door on the roof. It swung down with her as she fell. Then she jumped again and caught herself on the edges. She pulled herself up and through. She turned around and helped Zatanna in then Wally. Just in the nick of time, they closed the door and a security guard came into the lobby. He grabbed something from the desk and bolted back.

"Was it seriously that easy to distract them?" Wally whispered from beside Artemis. She rolled her eyes.

"_Men._" She answered in a low voice. She turned around and began to crawl. "Where am I going, Zee?"

Zatanna held up a cell phone to look at it. "According to these floor plans, we take the next right. After that there's a left then another right and we should be directly above the curator's office. There will be some vent covers on the way. Don't crawl on them, they'll break."

"Where'd you get the floor plans?" Wally asked.

Zatanna smiled, "Always be prepared."

They turned right and kept going; Artemis first, then Wally, then Zatanna bringing up the rear. On a few occasions, they met vent covers where they had to put their hands on the other side and carry themselves through with their feet on the walls. They went left then right until they were overlooking a dusty, dingy office.

Artemis took off her back pack and took out a harness and some rope. She tied the rope around the harness like she learned when they went climbing on the side of the school. Self taught, of course. She handed Zatanna and Wally the rope.

"Drop me and die." Artemis grabbed a flashlight out of the bag and tucked it into her belt.

"Yes m'am," Zatanna said with a cheeky smile. Artemis moved the vent cover and went down head first. She held the rope in both hands and touched her feet together above her, in a sort of Spiderman pose. They lowered her down slowly until she could flip over and touch her feet to the floor. Artemis went straight to his desk. She flicked on the flashlight and put it in her mouth as she snooped through the desk drawers. She found porno magazines, every TIME magazine ever created, and a handful of loose change but no clue. She opened his right hand drawer and found a letter with a broken seal that was stamped RF in loopy hand writing, the wax a little smudged from being pushed on. She opened it, glancing at the door. Artemis took out her phone and snapped a quick picture of it before stuffing it back in the envelope and placing it back in the drawer. She walked over to his filing cabinet and opened the top drawer, the key left in the lock. She found the clue fastened in a plastic box. It was yellowed and looked brittle but she didn't stop to try to read it in the dim light. Artemis stuck it and the flashlight in the backpack then tugged twice on the rope. They pulled her up and she pushed the vent cover back on.

"Did you get it?" Wally asked.

"I wouldn't be back here if I didn't." She nodded. "I'll show you on the bus." They crawled back through the vents to the lobby and slipped down. Wally used a chair to shove the vent door back into place. The guards weren't in the lobby, nor was there any sign of them, but they still booked it outside and all the way to the bus. Artemis was last to climb on and paused on the first step of the bus. She whistled; once low, once high, once higher, and once low. Soon, the sound was echoing throughout the entire dark town.

Artemis and Zatanna put their skirts on over their pants and shimmed out of them. They pulled on their socks and changed their shirts behind some seats. Artemis pulled her messy hair out of the cap and took Wally's too. He ditched his sweater and they hid the clothes back in the floor compartments of the bus.

It took minutes for the girls to regroup back at the buses, with the groups of very tired teachers at their heels. Artemis almost felt bad for them.

On the way home, Artemis took out the clue and passed it around.

"Why'd we take the whole clue, anyway? Why didn't we just jot it down?" Wally asked.

"Simple. Foster wanted it so we had to have it. We might need it later on." Raquel answered.

The clue came around the group and ended at Artemis. "To find what you seek, look to the snow white heart." She read, "What the hell does that mean?"

"Heart? What heart?" Wally looked lost.

"What about the one in the science lab?" Raquel asked.

"No, that wouldn't have been here when she was." Kaldur said.

"What about that creepy-ass deer in the cave? It's been here forever." Zatanna suggested.

"But that's only the neck up." Artemis pointed out.

"And hearts aren't white." Conner stated.

"What if the heart isn't literal? What if it's in the wall?" Zatanna said.

"It's worth a shot, I guess. We'll check the cave when we get back." Artemis said.

"Cave?" Kaldur asked.

"It's not really a cave. That's just a nickname. It's the head's common room." Megan told him.

"Head's commons? What head's commons?" Wally asked and gave Artemis a look.

"Oh yeah. We have a private common room. Forgot to tell you." Artemis said as she studied the yellowed and ripped clue for any numbers for symbols.

"Forgot or neglected to?"

"Neglected. But really, if you had a private common room would you tell me about it?"

"Fair point."

The group rode in silence on the way back, each pondering the clue. When they got back they trudged upstairs to the fifth floor and to the head's commons. Everyone crowded around the deer head and Zatanna ran her fingers along the wall beneath.

"Solid stone. There's no way she could hide something here, unless she put it here when the castle was being built." The group sighed together.

"I say we sleep on it and look again tomorrow. We'll meet here after breakfast." Wally said.

"I agree. Good night, guys." Artemis said. The boys turned to the exit. "Where're you guys going?"

"Downstairs." Dick answered.

"Why not just take the short cut?" Artemis walked over to the hearth and pulled a candle stick above it. A section of the wall opened and lights turned on inside. "Lights were installed a few years ago by one of the last head girls. This passage will bring you to the head's bedroom. Just turn onto those stairs there. And remember: sixth down, eighth across." She pointed. The boys went down the passage and Artemis watched to make sure they descended the right stairs and waited in case they came back up. After that, everyone split up off to their respective rooms. Artemis collapsed into bed without even changing and fell right to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Double update day! I don't know if this'll become an annual thing or anything but I'm uploading two chapters today because school is starting next week for me and I want to be able to finish this story so it won't have to go on hiatus. Please review/ favourite/ follow and thank you for it. I hope you enjoy!**

**-RoyalVictory**

* * *

"That's it. We've searched every bloody heart in this castle. It can't be a heart at all," Raquel said, collapsing into a chair. She sounded completely and totally dejected, but who could blame her? The group had been searching for hours without a single stroke of luck.

They had gone through every major room in the castle with no sign of it, and the only hearts they found were the one in the science lab and the painting on the third floor.

Artemis herself had a sick feeling in her stomach. She should've known not to let her hopes up, or her girl's hopes up over something as dumb as a child's tale. She was a little angry at Zatanna for bringing up the story in the first place, but she knew he anger was wrong. Still, she wasn't going to just give up.

"I've been thinking the same thing," Megan said. She was hunched over the clue at the desk in the cave, examining it with a magnifying glass for about the millionth time, "I mean look at this clue. There's this space between 'heart' and the period, as if to suggest there was supposed to be another letter there. Like 'heart' isn't the full word."

"So you're saying it could be a word that begins with heart, but isn't heart?" Dick clarified.

"Exactly. What kinds of words fit that description?" Megan said. She looked up at her companions with wide, curious eyes.

"Heartache?" Zatanna asked.

"Heartened?" Dick offered.

"Heartburn?" Wally bit into his sandwich.

"No. There's only room for one letter I think," Megan said, her face a mere inch away from it.

"Hearts?" Conner proposed.

Artemis leaned her head back on the doorframe. Her arms were crossed as she thought. Her stormy irises followed Wally as he crossed the room to stand next to the fireplace, setting his empty plate on the shelf above it.

"What kind of person makes a white fireplace?" Wally asked almost to himself. Artemis stood up straight. Wally turned around and caught Artemis's eye. He raised an eyebrow.

"Fireplace." She said.

"What?" Wally asked. His eyebrows crinkled together.

"The fireplace. It's made of white stone. The only one like it in the castle." Artemis said she took a few steps forward. When as she got were blank looks she walked across the room to it, "Hearth. The floor of a fire pit. It's a white hearth." She dropped to her knees and began to pull out charred logs, not caring about her clothes or the carpet. "Help me with this." Wally dropped to help her dig their way to the bottom. Their arms up to their elbows very quickly became covered in soot and dust but they kept digging until they got to the bottom.

Artemis wiped her hand on her skirt. She used it to swipe away the last thin layer of black soot to reveal the pearly white stone. Wally and Artemis exchanged a look before feeling around the edges of the separate stones.

"Here." Wally said. Artemis helped him pry the loose stone up with their nails then move it aside to uncover a folded, yellowed piece of paper. Artemis wiped her hand on her skirt and picked it up delicately. She stood up and unfolded it while everyone crowded around her. Wally read it out loud from over her shoulder.

"If you want my treasure to win, I confess you must come where you may not sin." Wally read. Underneath the curly hand writing was a beautiful sketch of an intricate rose. It had probably once held colour but it had long since faded.

"That's easy. The old chapel." Raquel said immediately. "Sinning in church is a big no no."

"Chapel?" Kaldur said.

"Back when this place was built, it was normal for a castle to be built with an attached chapel. Ours is on the first floor." Zatanna answered.

"And look! The rose! Isn't the chapel supposed to have this huge rose stained glass window?" Raquel said.

Artemis glanced down at her and Wally's uniforms, "Give us five minutes to change. Maybe you guys can clean that up?" She handed the clue to Megan, "I think we should keep the clues, and keep them hidden when we don't use them." Megan nodded and picked up the first clue.

"I know exactly where to put this." She walked over to a painting and pulled it back so it swung on hinges. She turned a stone handle that hid behind it and the wall opened, revealing a tiny compartment. Megan placed it inside then shut it again.

"Good thinking. I think we should keep that spot quiet, but it should be alright to tell the other students our progress, as long as they know not to tell anyone."

"Don't tell Tanya. Can't keep a secret to save her life," Zatanna joked.

"We'll go get changed. Get some flashlights in the mean time, too." Artemis said.

"Flashlights? Why?" Conner said.

"It might be dark in there. I wouldn't know, though. I've never been inside." Artemis answered.

Artemis looked up at the massive church. The front was attached to the side of the castle and the roof went all the way up to the second floor. The doors were the size of the entire first floor wall and carved intricately. The entrance loomed over then, giving it all an ominous feel.

"Let's go," Artemis pushed against the door but it didn't budge. She tried again but to no avail.

"I've got it." Conner said. He leaned his shoulder against the door and with a grunt, he shoved it open slowly. It was just wide enough for them to pass through if they walked sideways. Wally took a flashlight and flicked it on, walking in first. Artemis went after him.

Her jaw dropped. The entire place was nearly unbearably humid and completely overgrown with foliage. Vines and leaves covered every available surface. The pews were barely visible and the altar was just one huge pile of vines. The church must've been thirty to forty feet wide and the only light streamed in through the filthy, mostly covered by vines, rose stained glass window. It matched the clue exactly and Artemis knew they were in the right place. The only problem was where would she hide a clue in somewhere so huge?

"Watch your step," Wally told her. She looked down to find a pile of foliage up to her knees. So that's what had been against the door. She had wondered. He offered her a hand and she took it, letting him help her over. He was a few inches taller than her so it would've been easier from him to step over. Artemis turned to warn Zatanna who was coming in after her. Artemis went and stood next to Wally, letting go of his hand.

"Shit." He said.

"Pretty much exactly what I was thinking." She waved her flashlight around, looking at the walls and floor. They all looked the same. Her light passed over a pitch black doorway that stayed that way even with her light on it. She made a mental note of it, knowing someone would have to search it. She could do it. There were worse things in the world than the dark.

"This place is huge." Megan said as Conner helped her over the previous door block. She was the last one to climb through.

"Close the door. We don't need any unexpected visitors." Artemis said. Conner nodded and closed it. "Remember, the hiding place will probably have to do with a rose."

"How are we supposed to find one clue in this place?" Megan said a little hopelessly.

"Split up." Artemis and Wally spoke at the same time. They looked at each other, startled.

"Megs, Zee. You guys check the front. Above the door, around it. Everywhere." Artemis commanded.

"Kaldur, Conner. I want you two on the pews." Wally told them.

"That leaves Raquel and Dick for the altar and all around it." Artemis said.

"I'll take the back." Again, they spoke at once. They looked at each other and glared while Dick and Zatanna snickered. Megan suppressed a smile. "No, I'll go. No, _I'll_ go."

"Why don't both of you go?" Dick suggested with a grin. Artemis glared at him.

"Fine. If you find it, or need someone for whatever reason, whistle. Come on, red." Artemis said. She lead the way to the doorway, past the steps to the altar. She hesitated for half a second.

_What are you scared of Artemis? A big bad rat? _She thought _Go on you big baby. _Artemis walked in with Wally on her heels. She stopped a moment to let her eyes adjust. She shone her flashlight down the hall, but it didn't make it too far. The ceiling was much lower in here. If Artemis tried, she could probably brush her fingers against it. The leaves and vines seemed to be even worse in here, so much so that it would be difficult to walk. It smelled horrible and Artemis could hear the scrape of claws on stone. It was much darker than outside and _wet _from god knows what.

"Do you think she would've hid it in the walls?" Wally asked. Artemis shook her head, feeling confident.

"No. Too plain. Agnes had more flare than that. She'd put it in somewhere completely obvious so we'd over think it." She shined her light down the hall again, "Let's keep looking."

The duo walked around and over vines and puddles. She passed by a few doorways but they were all too overgrown to go into without sawing their way through. It got colder as they went, despite the humidity of the main room. Even the sounds of their friends digging and ripping through the plants faded. They saw rats a few times, but neither was really surprised. They just shooed until it went away.

"Have you ever though what might happen if we can't find it?" Wally's voice came out of nowhere and made Artemis jump. She regained her composure quickly.

"Of course."

"Would it really be that horrible? I mean it'd suck major balls, yeah, but we could keep in touch. It wouldn't be hard." Artemis made a mental note of how he said 'we', like him and her. Somehow, the idea didn't make her sick to her stomach. Keeping in touch with Wally wouldn't be totally horrible.

"It's not just that though. This place is my home. My mom kicked my dad out when I was twelve. Me and my sister both came here after that. She's graduated and off living on her own with some douche bag named Roy, but she's happy so I guess I should be too." The words were tumbling out of her mouth and she had no idea why she was spilling it all to Wally days after she met him. But there was _something _about him. She felt...comfortable with him. And that was a little dangerous. "But that's not the point. The point is I've been here since I was in grade four. I live with my mom during the summers, yeah, but she's in a wheelchair and I know it's hard on her taking care of me. She was so happy when I got this scholarship and... I just _can't _lose this place." She paused. "And if this turns into a wild goose chase, then I'll find another way. I won't give up. If not for me, then for my girls. They may be a little wild and crazy, but they are good people." It felt strange to tell someone that; but good strange. She had never told anyone that before, not even Megan; it felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

Wally stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and looked at him. Really _looked_. His hair looked like it was on fire in the dim light and his freckles stood out boldly on his pale cheeks. "We'll find it," Wally's emerald eyes lit up with determination. Or were they just reflecting light from the flashlights? "I promise."

Artemis licked her lips subconsciously, considering her words carefully. "Don't make promises you can't keep." She had had way too many of those. Wally's hand stayed on her shoulder a second longer than necessary then dropped. They kept walking.

The condition of the hallway was slowing down their progress majorly. It seemed to just get worse as they continued on. Vines tangled up in their ankles and hung from the ceiling. Artemis had her mom's old Swiss army knife she was using to saw off the worst of it, but the blade was nowhere near sharp enough to slice through with ease.

Artemis glanced over at Wally. Her eyes lingered on the purple bruise that spread across his jaw and felt a poke of guilt. "Hey Wally?" She stopped. When he realized she had, he stopped too and turned around to face her.

"Yeah, Artemis?"

"Sorry about that." She let her fingers ghost the bruise. She could've sworn she saw Wally shiver but it must've been a trick of the light. Or lack thereof.

Wally grinned, "You have a killer right hook."

"Thanks. Your hair isn't so bad when it doesn't have an entire bottle of gel in it." Wally laughed and Artemis smirked. They kept walking.

"Oh god, what's that smell?" A stench ten times worse than the one that hung in there assaulted their noses. Artemis covered hers with her hand, pressing her sleeve over her nose and mouth.

Wally's hand was on his nose too. His voice was muffled from it. "Eugh. Disgusting." They began to swing their lights around to try to detect what it was. Wally was the one who found it. His flashlight trained on a half eaten, half rotted rat.

"Come on. I think the end is up here."Artemis and Wally walked a bit quicker away from the decaying rat. They walked until finally, they reached the end. There were two half rotten doors at the end, one with a broken handle.

"The confession. This is it. Let's head back." Artemis said, feeling a little defeated. She wondered if they could somehow get into the other doorways by cutting up the plants with her knife. Or maybe Wally could lift her-

"Wait." Wally said, cutting off her train of thought, "The clue said 'I must confess you must go where you may not sin.'" Artemis gave him a blank look. "Confess? Confession?"

"You think it could be in there?" Artemis glanced to the booths.

"I think it could be worth a shot. You take that one, I'll take this one." They split up and Artemis went to her side. She used her shoulder to force open the sliding door and peered inside. Her heart sunk.

"Anything?" Wally asked.

"Everything in here is too rotten. If anything was here, it's long gone. You?"

"No, not- Wait. Yes! I got it!" Artemis darted out to meet him.

"There was a little rose. I hit it by accident and a compartment clicked open and this was inside." Wally held up the tightly rolled yellow paper. Artemis directed her flashlight at it. He opened it up carefully and read, "Very close to an iron stove lies the next clue to my treasure trove."

"Let's show the others." Artemis said. They made faster progress on the way back then they did on the way there, knowing where to step and having the worst of the vines cut down on the way there. They reached the tunnel door in half the time it took them to get to the confession. The duo emerged back into the main room and the humidity hit Artemis hard. It seemed sweltering hot outside after the cold damp of the back hallway. She fanned herself and Wally ran a hand through his hair, leaving little tracks. The others gathered around.

"Did you find it?" Raquel asked.

"Yep." Wally had a huge grin on his face. He read the clue out loud again for all of them.

"The clue's obviously in the kitchens. The real challenge is getting in and out without being seen. The cook's in there at five in the morning and stays there until eleven at night." Artemis said. "Her room is right next door. We'll have to be sneaky and fast."

"Shit!" Dick said. "We have to board the bus in five minutes and I'm competing today!"

"Go get your stuff. We'll stall the bus." Wally said.

"I'll show him the shortcuts." Zatanna said. She grabbed his hand and pulled him off.

The rest of the group left for the buses. They climbed onto the bus, which was almost full. They took the back seats while Raquel and Megan parked themselves behind the wheel. The two girls closed the bus door and locked it.

Kaldur sat next to Conner and Wally slid into the window seat. He patted the spot next to him and Artemis took it. She leaned across Wally to look out the window. A smile worked itself onto her face. Prince stood at the door, knocking and talking. She peeked over the seat and saw Raquel making a big show of yelling, though words weren't coming out of her mouth. Megan had an innocent 'I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying' look on her face.

"What?" Raquel mouthed. "I can't hear you!" She pointed to her ear and shrugged.

She looked out the window and saw Prince. She said, "Let me in. No I said let me in. Unlock the door!"

Raquel pretended she couldn't hear her and went on with the charade. Artemis leaned back in her chair and glanced down at her feet.

"I think I might have to burn these shoes."

Wally laughed, "Yeah me too."

"Can I see the clue?"

"Sure. Here." He pulled it out of his pants pocket and handed it to her. "Why?"

"Just checking for any hidden symbols or pirate codes," she answered without missing a beat. She read it over three times then handed it back.

"Find anything?"

"Nope. It must be exactly what it says."

"Shocker." He said sarcastically. Artemis shoved his shoulder.

Dick and Zatanna raced onto the bus, Prince right behind them. Artemis could see Raquel and Megan telling her they really couldn't hear her and how they're so, so sorry. She smiled.

Zatanna and Dick took the seat in front of them and Megan and Raquel sat next to each other across the aisle. Artemis crossed her arms and leaned her head back against the seat. She closed her eyes.

The bus rolled to a stop and Artemis opened her eyes. She hadn't really fallen asleep but had been somewhere in the middle of it all. Still, she felt rested enough.

Everyone filed off the bus and, as per usual, sprinted into the arena at top speed, waving sticks and bats and screaming. Artemis didn't bother stopping them. She thought a little intimidation was good in competition.

Dick got split up from them when he walked in, ushered off to the dressing rooms and warm up benches. They shuffled into the bleachers and sat down. Wally sat to her right and Megan to her left. They started talking about everything but the clues until the announcers called for their attention.

The competition was a lot better than Artemis thought it would be. Even her girls were interested in it, but she thought it had partly to do with the guys running around in spandex. About half an hour in, Dick stepped onto the mats. He jumped up onto the bars and swung around on them with ease. He looked like some kind of monkey as he sprung and flipped from bar to bar. When he stuck his landing, he got a standing ovation. The scores were revealed and he got a .231 deduction for not smiling as he was doing a triple back flip or something equally as dumb.

After Dick, they had to sit through another four hours of girl's gymnastics until the end finally rolled around. Everybody congratulated Dick on his gold medal then piled back into the bus to head home for dinner.

Upon arrival, the entirety of the student body went straight to the mess hall, where burgers and fries were waiting for them. The group gathered at a table.

"I think I should go. I know this castle better than anyone." Artemis said between bites. They were planning their next pursuit of the clue, which would take place that night.

"I'll go too. And Dick. He's some kind of crazy ninja." Wally said. Artemis finished and stood up.

"Alright. We'll meet outside your room at one. Don't be late. And wear black."


	5. Chapter 5

The castle was silent.

It was eerie. Artemis had never known a silent St. Agnes. It had always been loud and wild and completely comfortable. The silence put Artemis on edge. She didn't like it.

She had gone to bed early to get at least a few hours of sleep before being awake for god knows how long. It should be easy. It should take mere minutes. But there was no telling it would actually go that way.

Artemis woke up at twelve thirty and donned black skinny jeans and a long sleeve black shirt. She laced up black converse and braided her long hair down, covering the top of her head with a toque and her slender hands with black gloves. She buckled on a belt full of various necessities such as a flashlight, two smoke grenades (an invention that the Nerds made themselves), and her mom's old pocket knife. After dressing, Artemis slipped out of her room and into the cave. She pulled on the candle stick. She winced at the screeching gears as they creaked in the wall, the wall swung back and opened into the secret passage. Artemis walked into the passage; pausing to be sure it closed behind her. When it did, the lights shut off automatically so she was left in the pitch black hall.

She flicked on her flashlight and turned, walking to the stairs that would take her to the head's room. Artemis descended them and found herself facing a completely solid stone wall. She counted six from the bottom and eighth across then pushed both stones as far as she could get them. The wall moved away, the old gears groaning softly.

Artemis emerged from the closet and found the boys waiting for her. They both wore similar attire to Artemis, minus the belt. Wally had even covered his tell tale hair with a hat.

"What's on your face?" Was her greeting as the wall closed behind her.

Wally reached up and touched it with gloved fingers. A look of realization washed over his face. "Oh yeah. War paint. Want some?" Artemis eyed the black lines they had drawn under their eyes.

"We're breaking into a kitchen, not a bank vault." Artemis rolled her eyes, "Let's just go."

Artemis left first then Wally, and Dick brought up the rear. Artemis stopped near the stairs and pressed her ear against the wall. She knocked once then moved her fist and did it again.

"What are you doing?" Wally asked. Artemis ignored him. She did it three times before she knocked in the right spot. A low, hollow noise sounded and the blonde grinned. She ran her fingers along the edges of the stone and pushed it in, much like she did back in the passage. The wall moved in and Artemis looked at Wally with a smirk.

"That." Artemis led them into the passage and turned on her flashlight again.

"How many secret passages does this school have?" Dick asked as he watched the door close behind him.

"We know of about thirty, but there are definitely way more to be accounted for. Agnes was a very paranoid woman." Artemis mentally mapped out the map of passages and turn offs she knew would take them to the kitchens.

They turned left, then right, then right, then left, then right, descended two flights of stairs and emerged on the second floor. Artemis looked at the two boys. "From here it's wide open all the way to the kitchens. Stay quiet."

The trio tiptoed down the never ending hall. Artemis had extinguished her light so they walked in complete darkness, the only light coming from the windows overlooking the moonlight courtyard. They got past seven of the nine classrooms when they heard footsteps coming towards them. Artemis whipped around to tell them to hide but found Dick gone.

"Where'd he-" Artemis started to whisper, but was cut off.

"Dunno. Quick, in here." Wally grabbed Artemis's arm and yanked her into a convenient but cramped closet. It was a tight squeeze but they still got inside in time. Artemis was flush against Wally's chest. His nose brushed the space between her eyes and his breath tickled her face. Artemis felt her face heat up. His breath smelled like peppermint and he smelled like faint cologne. Artemis turned her face to the door, Wally did the same.

"Come on, you brute. We don't have all night." A familiar voice rang out. "The first clue talked about a white heart. It has to be in this castle."

Artemis and Wally looked at each other. "Rufus," Artemis mouthed. Wally's emerald eyes widened.

"I thought the clue was stolen, boss." A deeper, dumb voice said.

"It was. But the curator remembered what it said. I still can't believe the old bat lost it after all I paid him. No matter. We need to find that heart. Go look in there, I'll look in here."

"But where did Mark and Jackson go?"

"Who? Oh, the other two brutes? I already explained this to you. I sent them to go look through the first floor. Now, come on." Their footsteps trailed off, a heavier set towards the kitchens and the lighter towards the stairs.

"This might be our only chance," Wally said, his voice no louder than a breath. Artemis met his eyes and nodded.

"Ready?" Artemis used a voice as quiet as his own. Wally nodded. She opened the door slowly so it wouldn't creak. "The coast is clear. Let's go." The duo ran down the hall silently, Artemis in the lead slightly to direct. She turned into the kitchens and held the door for Wally then shut it as quickly as possible without making noise. They both turned around and leaned on it, panting.

"That rat bastard." Artemis said, looking at her shoes. Wally nodded his agreement.

"What took you guys so long?"

The sudden voice made both Wally and Artemis's head's snap up. Dick was sitting on the counter, eating an apple, cool as a cucumber.

"How-" Artemis started.

"It's better not to ask." Wally answered. "I'll keep watch. You guys look."

Dick hopped off the counter and wandered over to the stove with Artemis. She sent him a suspicious look.

Dick gestured to the stove, "It wouldn't be this one. It's too new." Artemis scanned the large kitchens, wondering why the hell Agnes had to choose two of the largest rooms to hide her clues. Annoyance poked at her. But then, something caught her eye.

"That's not what I was thinking. See the counters? They're attached to the walls and floors. Solid stone. They were built along with this castle. They would've had to put their stove here, it wouldn't fit anywhere else. Help me move this." Artemis said. Dick helped her pick up the huge stove. They grunted and Artemis felt a sweat break on her forehead as they shuffled to the side with the heavy stove. They put it down carefully with heavy sighs. Artemis held up the flashlight for him as Dick got to his knees and felt his fingers along the edges of the stone beneath.

"This one's loose." Dick said. He pried it up with his finger nails to reveal a tiny dugout. He picked up a square of yellowed paper and held it up to Artemis.

"We got it." He said. Artemis took the clue and carefully tucked it into her belt as Dick put the stone back.

"Guys, someone's coming," Wally warned suddenly.

"Quick, we have to move this back. Or else they'll know someone was here." Artemis said, grabbing the side. All three got it moved about three quarters in when they started to hear footsteps nearing the door.

"This'll have to do. We have to hide." Wally said.

"But-" Artemis protested but was swiftly cut off.

"Come on!" Wally snatched her hand and dragged her into the pantry after Dick. Dick climbed like a monkey onto the highest shelf. Artemis and Wally ducked under the lowest shelves, which were only just about a foot off the ground, across from each other. Artemis laid on her stomach and turned her head uncomfortably to the side. She could see Wally's emerald eyes across from her in the dim light coming from under the door.

"Why's this stove so far out?" A high pitched man's voice said.

Artemis hurriedly moved some things in front of her and scooted as far back as she could. Just in the nick of time too. The door creaked open. Artemis looked across the aisle with wide eyes at Wally. One small pair of feet came into view, in overly shiny shoes with pants that had a hem that dragged on the floor. It was caked in mud and had probably left it all over the castle. Prince wouldn't be happy about that.

"Funny. Thought I heard someone in here. Huh." He spoke quietly, as if whoever he thought was there might come out if they thought he wasn't there. "I really hate this place, you know." Rufus said. "It's such a dump. No worries, when I find the gold I'll be rich enough to bulldoze this disgusting castle. Yes, yes, you'll get your pay too." Artemis felt the anger boil up inside her. How dare he talk about her home like that? She looked at Wally again. She could only see his eyes up, but what she could see was screaming at her to stay silent. Artemis pressed her lips together.

The feet turned around and left the pantry. Artemis let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. The sound of the kitchen door opening and closing rang out. Still, they waited until Dick jumped down and peeked out, and then declared it was safe.

"We have to get back upstairs before he catches us." Wally said. Artemis nodded and the trio crept to the door. Artemis opened it a crack and peeked out.

"Looks like the coast is clear. Let's go." They slipped out and tiptoed silently down the hall.

"Maybe we should check that science classroom one last time." They froze as a light appeared out a door.

"Again?" Wally asked as Artemis dragged him into the closest classroom.

"Where does he keep going?" Artemis said when she noticed Dick was gone again. The two teens hurried to stand away from the door. Artemis backed into the near empty teacher's desk. She looked over her shoulder.

"Shit!"

"What?!" Wally stage whispered.

"This is the science classroom!" Artemis said. The door knob turned. Artemis leapt up to sit on the desk. She grabbed Wally's collar and yanked his lips to hers, lying back on the desk and bringing Wally with her. He put his hands on the desk to avoid crushing her. Her tongue traced his lips and he opened them and brought his tongue to meet hers. Artemis treaded her fingers through his (remarkably soft) hair.

The door swung open and Rufus cleared his throat. They broke off and both looked at him. Wally stood straight and Artemis sat up.

"Some privacy would be nice," Artemis snapped. Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Watch. Whatever." Artemis pulled Wally back again. Rufus cleared his throat again, this time less confident.

"Get out, you loser." Wally snapped at him.

"Just..uh. Continue upstairs." Rufus said. Artemis rolled her eyes dramatically. Artemis let Wally help her off the teacher's desk and keep her hand while they walked out. She flipped Rufus off as she walked past. They started up the stairs and as soon as they turned the corner, they dropped hands and took two stairs at a time until they reached the boy's floor. Dick was waiting in the head's bedroom.

"I thought you two would never finish." Dick smirked.

"Shut up. It kept Foster from getting suspicious." Artemis ignored the feeling of her swollen lips. She pulled the clue from her belt and put it on the table. "Now let's look at this clue." She opened it carefully and read the usual curly writing, "A sleeping beauty once here slept, heavy crimson ensured her secrets kept."

"I think we should sleep on it. We have to be up early tomorrow." Wally said. Artemis nodded and yawned.

"Good night, boys."

"Wait, I'll walk you back." Wally said. Dick snickered.

"Okay." Artemis said slowly. They went out and up the stairs together, the clue securely in Artemis's belt. Once she got to her room, she'd hide it very well. Artemis opened the passage entrance then turned back to Wally.

"G'night, Wallman." She said.

"Goodnight, Artemis." She turned to leave but he called her back, "And uh, Artemis? Good job back there. Wait, no. I mean the clue thing. Not the..._other thing._ I mean, good job with that too. It wasn't bad. It was good. Not just good. I mean. Uh. No I mean-" Wally rambled on, his red growing steadily redder. Artemis had to fight off a grin.

"You too, Wally. Good night." She turned and left, leaving him to figure out exactly what she meant by that.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know, I know. I'm the worst person in the entire world because I updated so late. I'm so sorry! I knew this would happen, hence my last double update. I'm really sorry. I'm not trying to make excuses but I go to a really academically competitive school and I've already had to write two tests, had homework from every class every day, and I have two essays due Monday. It's a lot of work and it's hard for me to find time to write in it all. Again, I'm so, so sorry. I'll get used to the workload soon (hopefully) so it will be easier to update quicker. Thanks for reading and please review/ favourite/ follow! Thanks again!**

**-RoyalVictory.**

* * *

"I know where the next clue is." Zatanna announced at breakfast with a mouth full of cereal, "and you aren't gonna like it." She swallowed and looked around expectantly. The usual group was gathering around the table. They had all just sat down when Zatanna revealed her revelation.

"Well?" Megan asked when no one else did. Zatanna leaned in. Everybody at the table subconsciously mimicked her.

"Really it could mean any room in the castle, but there's only one room that has the original bed. It's also the room every dorm was modelled after. Ring any bells?" She raised a pointed eyebrow then scooped more cereal into her mouth.

"Shit." Artemis said. The bags under her eyes were hidden by a thin layer of concealer. She held her black coffee in two hands

"What?" Wally asked. The bags under his and Dick's eyes had been hidden by concealer too. Raquel had gone downstairs early and helped them in the morning. They didn't need anyone questioning why the two heads and a prefect were awake last night.

"Miss. Prince's room." Megan answered softly. She had a thoughtful look on her face.

"That's gonna be just a dick to break into." Raquel responded. Dick snorted, causing Zatanna to laugh. "What?" Raquel asked. Zatanna and Dick just shook their heads.

"We should do it during the competition." Kaldur said reasonably, leaning his elbows on the table.

"Good idea." Wally said, nodding. His usual plate stacked high with food was sitting in front of him. He picked off his third piece of toast and took a bite.

"Who'll go?" Conner asked. He stopped scooping food into his mouth long enough to talk. "Too many people would probably be missed but two or three could get away with it."

"Not if they bring some first years too. There's too many for Prince and Bruce to keep track of all at once." Dick added. He pointed his fork at Wally. "You might need it."

"Me?" Wally asked. "Why me?"

"Because you're head boy." Dick said simply with a shrug.

"I agree. I think the two heads should go." Zatanna said.

"Don't you think we'd be missed?" Wally asked, looking between the two.

Zatanna shook her head, "No. Not if you say you'll take command of a group of firsties to help out the teachers. They love you both. They'd believe you."

Artemis nodded slowly. "Alright. So Wally and I go. We'll have to go to the stadium, show our faces. Then we can take a school cab." She waved over a first year and told her the plan quickly, "I want you to bring Kelly, Rae, and the terror twins. Got it?" The girl nodded and ran back to her table.

The bell rang and everyone gathered their things. They all stood up and began to file towards the door. Artemis grabbed Wally's sleeve and tugged him back. He stopped and looked back at her.

"We'll wait until the bus is almost full and board when the teachers come out." She looked over at Megan, "Meg, save us some seats. We're going to wait so the teachers see us coming on." Megan nodded and continued on her way out. The two went upstairs, Wally stopping at the fourth and Artemis stopping at the fifth. She grabbed her jacket from her room and went downstairs through a secret passage. She emerged at the front of the school by the buses, where everyone was boarding. Wally wasn't there yet but she decided she would get on anyways. It didn't really matter if they went on together, as long as they were both seen getting on. She was about to step on when someone grabbed her arm. She stopped and looked over her shoulder with disinterest.

"I know what you're doing," Rufus Foster looked worse for wear. Dark bags under his eyes were almost black and his face was pale. His tie was askew and the bottoms of his pant legs were coated in mud (Artemis made a mental note of that). His mustache was filled with his breakfast and his thin, scraggly hair was a mess.

"What? Making out with a hot head boy? Didn't know that was illegal." Artemis replied coolly. She raised her chin a little to look down on him all the more.

"But that's not what you were doing. You fooled me until you went back upstairs. Why were you wearing all black?" Rufus sneered. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"So we wouldn't get caught. Duh." She yanked her arm from Rufus's grip and gave him her own sneer, "You look tired. Are you alright?"

"I know you're looking for the treasure. And I'm warning you-"

"Is there a problem here, beautiful?" Wally had appeared out of nowhere. He stood next to her, and despite his light hearted words his eyes were fierce. He draped an arm across her shoulders and pulled her a little closer to him. Artemis thought he was laying on the whole 'protective boyfriend' act on a bit thick but went along with it anyways. She leaned her head on his shoulder and reached up and took the hand that was around her shoulder before she spoke.

"No. Not at all. He just wanted to wish St. Agnes luck in the games." Artemis said, "Isn't that right, Ratface? Oops. I mean Rufus." She smiled. Rufus spun on his heel and stalked back to the castle.

"Really?" Wally didn't move his arm. Artemis didn't move her head.

"Nah. He threatened me. Come on, I'll explain on the bus."

Once she had finished telling everyone what Foster said to her, everyone seemed equally angry. Raquel and Zatanna were repeatedly swearing under their breath, Megan's eyebrows had met in the middle, Kaldur was burning holes in the seat in front of him with his glare, Dick was furiously bouncing his foot, and Conner was practically crushing the arm of his chair. Wally was most surprising of all. He seemed to be doing a combination of everything the others were; the only difference was he kept asking if she was okay. Artemis ignored him for the most part. That is until she got annoyed enough to snap at him. He snapped back but didn't ask again.

Watching the others reactions, Artemis wondered for a moment what they would do if they knew about that kiss. Artemis herself had paced her room for a good half hour afterwards, trying to convince herself it meant nothing, she felt nothing, that it _was _nothing but a good cover. That her lips weren't really swollen and her face wasn't as bright as his (adorable) fiery hair. It kind of worked. Enough that she could stop pacing and finally get to sleep. Artemis very quickly decided she didn't want to know what the others would think.

"So what are we going to do now?" Megan asked quietly.

"We're going to find the treasure. We only have a few more days until the school closes so we'll have to work fast." Artemis responded stubbornly.

"How many clues are there?" Kaldur asked.

"No one knows for sure, but according to my book there's five." Artemis said, lifting the huge tome from her bag and into her lap.

"That means we only have one more to go," Conner said. Artemis nodded.

"So we'll continue with the plan. I'll send a few girls to tail Rufus too. We need to keep eyes on him from here on in." She said.

"Okay, Megs. Start the distraction...now." Artemis said through a walkie talkie. She sat in the stands with Wally and the girls that would be coming with them to the castle, a few rows away from the rest of the group. They had decided it'd be best to get away if they sat separately, especially since the others would be starting the distraction. In front of them, the boys's soccer team was currently on the pitch, darting around the other team. They were already winning one nothing and were looking like they were going to increase the lead with ease.

"Roger, roger," Zatanna answered in a robotic voice.

"Distraction in three...two...one." Megan said. The walkie talkie buzzed off and Megan, Raquel, and Zatanna's voices rang out loudly over the other cheering.

"**WHO'S GONNA WIN TODAY?!**" Every Agnes kid was in the crowd and aware of the plan. Each one of them stood and began to stomp their feet in the same kind of pattern. Artemis waved the others to follow her as she weaved through the students.

"**AGNES!**" Was their thundering reply.

"**WHO'S GONNA WIN TODAY?**" The trio said again, this time joined by Conner, Kaldur, and Dick. They added a clapping/ stomping routine together, to be echoed by the rest of the student body.

"**AGNES!**" The small group reached the stairs and slipped into them, walking out to the parking lot calmly. The distant cheering of Agnes kids could be heard all the way outside. Artemis knew they wouldn't get caught and smiled because of it.

Artemis and Wally got in the back of the school cab and the four first years got in the front. One tied blocks on her feet so she could hit the pedals. Artemis leaned up between the seats.

"Remember, girls. We need to get there and have enough time to look before everyone else gets back from the match."

"Yes, Miss." They replied at once. Artemis said back in her seat and put on her seatbelt. She eyed Wally.

"I'd do the same." She pointed her chin at his seat belt. He raised a quizzical eyebrow but fastened his seat belt anyway. The first years took off.

"Holy shit!" Wally said. They were doing well past the speed limit, the tiny town zipping past them until they reached a seemingly endless sea of green. Artemis sat up a little to see the speedometer. They were pushing about 200mph. Not bad. If they continued this pace they'd probably get to the house in twenty minutes tops.

"Remember. The clue mentioned crimson curtains so we'll check the window curtains first. If they're somewhere else we'll have to search the place." Artemis raised an amused eyebrow at Wally, "What's the matter? You look a little green." She tilted her head curiously. "Are we going too fast for you?"

Wally recovered quickly and sat up. He sent her a cocky smirk. "Psh. _Please._ I'm the fastest runner in my whole school. This is nothing."

"Fastest, huh?"

"Yep. You'll be blown away at the meet."

"We'll see about that." Artemis said with a grin.

Wally smirked and folded his fingers behind his head, "Yeah we will." Artemis rolled her eyes and took out her walkie talkie. She spoke into it.

"Rae, come in. Rae."

"_Rae here._" A soft voice replied.

"Ratface status?"

"_He's in a meeting with the curator. We're in the vents above. Mostly, he's asking questions about the clue. Seems he still hasn't figured it out yet."_

"Keep eyes on him. I want to know if he comes ten miles from the school. Got it?"

"_Roger._" The car pulled up to the school and everyone piled out, Artemis returning her walkie talkie to her pocket. Everyone piled out.

"I want you girls to keep watch from the dorm floor. Warn me on the talkies if anyone comes in." Artemis told the first years. They nodded their heads and the two groups split up to go to different stairways. Artemis and Wally climbed up to the third floor and Artemis led them down the hall. She kneeled in front of a set of double doors and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair.

"Watch my back," she said as she began to pick the lock. She shimmed it around until she heard a click. Artemis smiled. She turned the handle and pushed the door open. Wally and Artemis exchanged a look. They walked in.

The room was full of rich reds and deep browns. A huge canopy bed took up a large chunk of the middle of the room, while dressers and other furniture lined the walls. The solid stone floor was covered in a plush red rug. Clothes peeked out of the large wardrobe and books lined the shelves on the walls. The room was mostly clean, save a few clothing articles on the dresser and various papers that littered the small round table in the corner.

"Woah. Nice place." Wally said.

"Let's find the clue and get out before anyone finds us." Artemis said curtly. Wally began searching the curtains while Artemis jumped up onto the bed and went for the canopy bed. Suddenly, someone fumbled with the door lock. The teens froze.

"Under the bed!" Artemis whispered quickly. They dove under the bed on different sides, scooting backwards until their feet hit the wall and they had to bend their knees sideways. The door swung open and two pairs of feet shuffled across the floor. The woman kicked off her heels and the man lost his dress shoes. There was this distinct, muffled moaning sound. Artemis realized exactly what was happening the exact moment Wally did. They whipped to look at each other as quickly as they could under the small bed.

Artemis scrambled to grab her talkie silently. She whispered as loudly as she dared into it, "Distraction needed now. Don't reply. Repeat, no reply."

"Bruce," moaned the woman's voice. _Prince's _voice. Artemis felt her skin crawl in disgust.

"Hurry," she told the walkie talkie. Suddenly, a loud screeching filled the room. The firsties had hacked into the intercom system. Artemis silently thanked whatever higher power was watching over them. The screeching turned to some Britney Spears song, which the first years joined into. The two head masters stopped and Prince crouched down to grab her heels and stalked out of the room, not bothering with the discarded panty hose. Wayne cleared his throat, stuffed his shoes on, and left after her. Artemis let out a breath.

The two heads scrambled out of under the bed. Wally bolted for the door while Artemis went back to searching the bed.

"What are you doing? They'll be back any minute!" Wally stage whispered. The singing had stopped and the place had gone quiet once again.

"Yeah and this could be our last chance." Artemis said determinedly. She looked up and saw the draping curtains that surrounded the top of the bed. It was like a light bulb turned on in her head. She jumped onto it and stood, feeling along the edges. Wally opened the door a crack and peered out. Artemis's fingers brushed something slightly heavier than the curtain. She took out her pocket knife and flicked it open.

"Hurry, she's coming back." Wally said suddenly. Artemis sawed through the heavy crimson. "What are you _doing_?"

Artemis finished getting through and the yellowed clue dropped into her hand. She smirked, "Got it."

"She's almost here. What do we do?" Wally asked.

"Feel along the walls. There should be a passage here somewhere." Artemis said. She bolted to the opposite wall of Wally and began feeling around them.

"Here!" Wally exclaimed. Artemis turned around to see a passage opening. "I just pushed in this stone."

"Lucky. Let's go." Artemis said, dragging him into the passage. The door swung shut behind them, encasing them in complete darkness. "Wally? Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

"Where?"

"Here!" Artemis reached out her hand and felt her fingers brush his shirt. She grabbed onto his tie and used her other hand to feel along his shoulder to his hand.

"Hey, you could at least buy me dinner first." Wally said. Artemis let go of his tie and whacked his head.

"We need to keep together in here. I wasn't kidding when I said these tunnels can go on for miles. Now let me think." Artemis used her free hand to feel along the wall. "Let's follow this tunnel up."

"How do you know it goes up?"

"The brick is inclining a bit. We'll follow it. Come on." She pulled him along behind her. "Feel along the left side for a lever or switch or handle or something. I'll take the right." They walked in silence for a bit until the wall curved in. Artemis was trying not to think of how his hand was softer than you would expect from a boy and were big so it encased her smaller hand easily. "Steps. Right here. They go up." The two carefully crept up the stairs and stopped at the top.

"Why'd we stop?" Wally asked.

"There's a door. Here, help me." The two let go of each other's hands (somewhat reluctantly- not that she would admit it) and leaned against the door. "One...two...three." They shoved the door with their shoulders. It swung open, letting them fall to the ground in a heap of limbs.

"Hey, lovebirds." Dick said. They had landed in the Cave from behind a bookshelf. The duo stood up, ignoring Dick's remark. Artemis pulled out the clue.

"Got it." She smirked triumphantly then unfolded it and read aloud, "the final clue is hidden in a mysterious land full of magic, history, romance, and maps." Artemis's eyebrows furrowed together.

"What?" Zatanna asked. The group looked to Wally and Artemis.

Artemis shook her head lightly. "I don't know," she said without hope. She fell into a chair.

"Narnia?" Wally suggested. Everyone went silent.

An hour later, nothing had changed. Wally was pacing the room, Artemis had sunk back into her chair and was chewing her lip thoughtfully, and Zatanna was strumming her fingers lightly on her thigh next to Megan. Megan was leaning her chin on her hands at the desk staring at the clue, Dick was thumbing through some old, dusty tome, and Kaldur was staring calmly at the wall. Conner was leaning on the old coffee table and Raquel was sitting upside down with her head hanging off the edge of the couch, biting her nails. They hadn't spoken a word in at least half an hour, all too wrapped up in their thoughts.

Artemis leaned back in her chair. Her teeth let go of her lip and she looked over at Wally. He paced back and forth, occasionally running his fingers through his hair and leaving tracks in it. Finally, he stopped pacing, going to lean up against the bookshelf. Artemis sat up straight and watched as he propped his elbows up on the shelf, leaning his head back. He caught Artemis's eye and raised an amused eyebrow. Artemis stood. Everyone else looked at her.

"It's simple. Way simpler than we think. The room does have all of those things, just not in the literal sense." She spoke more to herself than anyone.

Dick jumped up, "Of course!" The book fell from his lap and hit the floor with a thud. He strode quickly over to the bookshelf, pushing Wally out of the way. He grabbed a book and plopped it in Wally's hands. "Fantasy. _Magic,_" he grabbed another and dropped it into Wally's hands, "history," another book, "romance," one last book, "an atlas. Maps."

"The library." Artemis finished for him. Everyone jumped up and raced downstairs to the library. Artemis opened the double doors dramatically, everyone else gathered around behind her. Her heart sunk a little at the sheer size of the library. It was dozens of aisles with hundreds of books. In most places, the books were coated in ten years worth of dust and spider webs but in a few they were completely clean and new. To top it off, a square staircase wound up in a circle in the corner of the room. It led to a second floor of pretty much the same thing.

The library was deserted, not even a librarian was in sight. "Grab a section. Four people upstairs, four people downstairs. We should check every single section, no matter how new it is. It could be anywhere," Artemis said. The group split up; Zatanna, Robin, Raquel, and Conner taking the top floor and everyone else on the bottom. Artemis headed to the far back corner of the library where the largest, dustiest books sat. She sighed and piled a bunch on the floor, dropping down next to them. Artemis pulled one into her lap, wiping off the dust and resisting the urge to sneeze. She opened it and dropped her chin in her hand, trying to get comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

Hours later, Artemis had relocated to a table. She had laid out all the books she thought might be useful on it, all flipped to a specific page. Stickie notes she had found in the librarian's desk littered the entire library and a pen was stuck in the back of her ponytail. Her hair was ruffled and her tie was looser around her neck than normal. The makeup under her eyes was gone and showed dark bags under them. Her blazer lay forgotten on the back of her chair and her shoes kicked lazily underneath it.

Megan was the last person to leave, about two hours ago. Artemis was too stubborn to give up just yet. Everyone had gotten through their sections, flipping through any books that mentioned pirates or treasure or Agnes, but they had all come up with nothing. Artemis was simply too bullheaded, so here she was, determinedly running through the library. The sun had set a while ago and she had to turn on the desk lamps. The three or four lamps that partially lit the room were dim and barely reached past the shelves. The shadows from the shelves gave the library a creepy feeling, one that even unnerved Artemis. She tried to ignore it but it was hard to when you could hear every creak and bump in the old castle.

Artemis shoved the loose hair behind her ears and read the clues for about the billionth time, which she had laid out on the table in front of her. She bit her lip in concentration, barely registering the quiet creak of the door as it opened behind her. She didn't notice the footsteps approaching behind her.

"Artemis." He spoke her name softly, but Artemis still jumped about three feet in the air. She whipped around to see Wally. He was wearing plaid pyjama pants and a white t shirt. His hair was ruffled, like he had just climbed out of bed.

"Idiot." She hissed. Wally smirked.

"Scared?" Artemis ignored him and turned back to the table. Her tired stormy eyes read over the papers again.

"Artemis. It's past midnight." Wally said as he stifled a yawn. Artemis checked the clock, surprised. So it was. She went back to her papers. Wally walked around the table to face her.

"Come on, Artemis. It's done. We'll just have to give up."

Artemis looked up and glared at him. "No. I'm not going to quit." She turned around and headed down a dim aisle, Wally following close behind.

"You've looked through every book in this library. Artemis, come on. Go to bed," he urged. She knew he was just trying to be helpful, but he was getting annoying.

"No. I'm so close. I know it," she told him stubbornly. She picked out the book she was looking for and dropped it on her table without looking at it, heading straight for the filing cabinets that held every book's location.

"You have to compete tomorrow and it's way past midnight. As soon as you're done competing everyone will come and look." He said reasonably. He had a point. She _did _have to compete tomorrow. There was no denying that. And they _could _come back straight after.

Artemis sighed heavily. "Fine. I'm just gonna go through the clues one more time." She went back to the clues, at a bit of a slower pace than before.

Wally followed and stood beside her, looking at them with her. "You know what's weird?" He said thoughtfully, "the clues could've done without some of this stuff. Like the 'snow' in the first clue and the 'iron' part in the third clue. And the picture of the rose. They would've worked just fine as 'to find what you seek look to the white heart.' or 'very close to a stove lies the next clue to my treasure trove.' "

"Wait a minute. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are both fairytales." Artemis said suddenly.

"What?" Wally asked. His eyebrows met in the middle.

"Fairytales." Artemis said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, they are. Why?" Wally asked confusedly.

"The rose. That's from two fairytales. Rose Red and Beauty and the Beast."

"So they're all fairytales. Why does it matter?"

"Because that's the only link between them."

"And how does the iron stove tie in?"

"It's a Grimm fairytale. About a prince who gets himself locked in a stove in the middle of the woods." She suddenly turned on her heel and stalked off down one of the aisles. Wally followed close behind. "I never even thought to check here."

"Check what?"

"There's this huge old book of fairytales. One of the ones that was here when the school opened. I get it out for when the first years get homesick." She scanned the shelves until she found it, in all its hardcover five hundred page glory. The gold lettering was faded but not enough to make it illegible, the front cover was a picture of a fairy in a beautiful red dress and giant graceful wings. Wally followed Artemis as she strode back to the table and dropped it on top of her notes and books, rather unceremoniously. She flipped through it until she found a page thicker than the other already thick pages. She felt her finger along the thick sheet for an edge then wedged her nail between the pages and dragged it downwards. It slowly peeled apart to reveal two blank pages, a small square stuck between them. Artemis picked it up carefully, a smile growing on her face. On the outside it said in the usual curly writing, _Last clue. Almost there, mate._

Artemis beamed and looked up at Wally, who returned her smile readily. "The last clue. We're almost there." She felt the excitement build up in her and somehow her and Wally were hugging. She wasn't entirely sure how it had happened but she was acutely aware of how her face was in his neck and he smelled like some nameless cologne. Her heart rate increased a bit and she felt her face go red.

"Uh...Wally?" They jumped apart. Artemis fixed her gaze on her stocking covered feet, determinedly not looking at him as an awkward silence ensued.

"Let's look at the clue." Wally blurted. Artemis nodded quickly, holding up the forgotten clue. She unfolded it and felt her heart sink. It was written in some strange language, one that she had no clue how to read.

"_Sth em Eetalg Nuard Gian Awatc Nheso Evert Ehem Uapi Qnt Ehee Hntra Tnceha ll ._" She didn't bother reading it out loud; there was no point if she didn't know how to pronounce it. So she read it in her head and knew Wally was doing it too. Artemis looked up, the smile gone from her face. They were done. There was no way they would be able to solve this in time, to get the treasure. Artemis was going to lose everything. Her throat closed up and she looked at Wally's shoes.

"Artemis," Wally said softly. She looked up at him. "Hey. Don't give up. We'll get it. So this clue is a little more difficult than the others. Whatever, we'll figure it out." He nudged her lightly. "We can get right on it first thing tomorrow but we have to compete right after. We can even think about it after our events too. The other clues were simple; we'll get this one in no time."

Despite her still skeptical thoughts, Artemis found herself agreeing with him. He was right about the clue; she was just over tired and over reacting. Wally gathered up the clues and closed the books on the table. "Come on, let's clean this up then we'll go to bed." They returned the books to their vacant spots on the shelves to be sure no one knew what they were looking at. But Artemis kept the fairytales book. It could still come in handy. Afterwards, Wally insisted on walking her back up to her room. They wandered through the pitch black hallways that were filled with that eerie silence that Artemis had begun to hate. The only light that was present was coming from a flashlight Wally had brought along. Wally walked her right to her door and told her to go right to sleep, no playing around with the clues. To be sure, he took both the fairy tale book and all the clues inside with a promise to hide them all well. A heavy tiredness had suddenly hit her and she had no real desire to argue with him at the moment. Artemis watched Wally leave down the hall. Before he had turned around the corner, he had looked over his shoulder and sent her a sleepy smile. Artemis returned it then slowly closed the heavy wooden door. She had barely changed into her pyjamas when her eyes drifted closed.


	7. Chapter 7

**__I'm going to keep this nice and short and sweet for you guys because I just spent twelve hours writing this and I am _exhausted_. This upcoming week I have tests everyday so I won't have homework or (hopefully) assignments for those classes too much (!) which means more writing time! I hope I'll have this next chapter ready by at the latest this time next week. Please review/ favourite/ whatever and thank you for those too! **

**-RoyalVictory**

* * *

Artemis touched her toes then reached high above her head. Her red tank top rode up a bit and she bent at the waist to touch her toes, her ponytail flopping down in front of her face. Artemis stood up straight again, stretching her arm across her chest and rolling her neck. She sat down and put her foot on the outside of her opposite knee, pushing her elbow against it and turning to stretch her back. She did the opposite side and stood up, rolling her wrists and shoulders.

The archer almost didn't hear him come up behind her. His uniform matched hers with a red spandex tank top and black running shorts, the only difference was his shorts were spandex too. He wore black wristbands on each wrist and his track shoes were old and worn. His hair was in its now usual unruly mess. Wally grinned goofily.

Both the running and archery events were today. There were ten heats for each the boys and the girls running, and only four archers for both the boys and girls. There was supposed to be more competitions tomorrow, but the Agnes kids wouldn't get a chance to compete if they didn't figure out the next clue. The deadline was tomorrow at seven am. That was when the bank would officially have ownership over the school and when they would have to start packing. But it wasn't going to come to that, not if she could help it.

Artemis had been thinking of the clue all day. She was almost worried it would throw off her aim. Artemis had gotten up extra early and was running on only a few hours of sleep and two or three cups of coffee. She woke up at five and headed straight for the library. Wally found her there a few hours later, and with him he brought coffee and muffins. She could've kissed him.

But she didn't. Nope. She didn't want to either. Why would she want to do that? Kiss Wally, that's funny. No, that's not funny. That's disgusting. Why would she _ever _want to do that (_again_)?

"Nervous?" Wally asked as Artemis stretched. She paused.

"Why would I be nervous?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you nervous?"

"Nope. Fastest runner in the school, remember?" That familiar cheeky smile settled itself on his face.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I guess all you can do is prove it, flash boy."

"Course I will." A horn sounded, signalling it was time to get to their stations. Artemis smirked at him, picking up her bow. It was old and painted forest green, full of little chips where the paint had come away to reveal the harsh metal beneath. The worn grip felt like home and the feeling of the rough bowstring against her lip was forever familiar. Artemis hadn't had a chance to go to the range since the boys first came and she was itching for some action.

"Oh, and Artemis?" She looked up from her bow. Wally was twisting his hands nervously and looking determinedly at her shoes. "WellDicksaidthatagoodluckcha rmisalwaysgoodforsomeoneands inceidon'tneeditithoughtyoumightwanti t."

Artemis scrunched her eyebrows together, "Sorry?"

Wally grumbled but started again. This time it seemed like he was forcing himself to go slow and restraining himself from speeding through it again. "Dick said that a good luck charm was always good for someone and since I don't need it I thought you might want it." He thrust his hand out awkwardly, holding one of the two black wristbands. "I've, uh, had this ever since I started track. Never raced without it. But, uh, since I don't need it cause I'm the fastest kind in the school and all that, I thought that you might want it. I mean, not that you need it or anything but-"

Artemis took it from him to stop him talking. "Thanks Wally." She smiled genuinely. Wally returned it, looking somewhat relieved. She pulled the soft fabric over her hand and onto her wrist.

Wally was still grinning as he watched her put it on then looked up at her face as he spoke. "What is the fifty arrow archery course anyway?"

"You'll see." Artemis told him with a mysterious smile. She turned on her heel and walked away. The announcement for Wally's running heat sounded and the boys lined up in a diagonal line, each a few feet behind the one to their right. Wally was in the last lane, only about ten feet away from Artemis. The track there was larger than a regulation track so the boys would only being doing two laps around it, and they'd be going over the hurdles twice.

"_On your marks_!" The announcer boomed. The boys kneeled down. Wally caught Artemis's eye and gave her a cocky smirk.

"_Get set_!" The boys moved in unison. Wally looked down the track determinedly.

A gun shot and the boys were running. Even though Wally had been in the back lane, he was already starting to pass the boys beside him. They hit the hurdles and two boys fell behind after tripping. They rounded their second turn, passing the starting lines for the final lap. Wally seemed to speed up, if that was possible, and ran past two of the three boys ahead of him. They hit the hurdles again and the boy in first very quickly became the boy in second. Wally kept sprinting, at least five feet ahead of the second placer with the gap growing. Wally reached the finish line first but kept running after he had won. He ran right to Artemis, laughing, and picked her up by her waist. Artemis failed in keeping the smile off her face and put her hands on his shoulders to hold herself up. He put her down, still smiling.

"Told you I'd win." He said. Artemis rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Yeah, yeah. Congrats, Kid Flash." She realised her hands were still on his shoulders and his were still on his waist. He must've noticed too because they both jumped back at the same time, both their faces turning bright red.

"Kid Flash? I like that." Before Artemis could respond, the announcer called all archers to their stations. Artemis left as Wally wished her luck. She stood next to the cement maze in the floor, bow in hand. The sport was fairly new but a lot of schools were already on board. The mazes were built into the floor so that it could simply be covered with a cover and then some turf, depending on the sport. The fifty arrow archery course worked like this: the four contestants would be set into the maze at the same time, all being timed, usually on the big screen. There were fifty targets, one for each arrow. The archers had to find their way through the maze with the most targets hit in the least amount of time to win. Each missed arrow was a .5 deduction from a total score of fifteen. You were able to get extra points for style, skill, or agility. But there was a twist; all contestants were hunted by people with paint ball arrows and had to escape without being hit by them three times, or else they were automatically disqualified. The only way to escape the hunters was to take a colored ribbon from the hunter's belt. If that happened, that specific hunter couldn't hit you anymore. But that rarely happened, usually it was easier to run. Rules stated that the contestants could not hit each other or take each other's arrows. If you broke any of these rules, you lost five of your arrows. If you lost ten arrows, you were automatically disqualified.

An official came and handed Artemis her quiver then led her down some stairs. She counted her arrows quickly. Fifty exactly, not a fletching more, not a fletching less. She took a deep breath and rolled her head around. She hopped twice, warming up her muscles a bit. A horn sounded and her door opened. She stepped inside and the door closed behind her. Artemis waited for the second horn and pulled out an arrow, notching it. The maze seemed to be open on the top for the most part, with cameras at the corners. Whoever had designed the place had been very careful not to place any distinctive markings on the ceiling, so as not to give the archers any hints on where the exit was. The camera swiveled to aim at her. She knew they were probably showing the archers on the screen above but she ignored it. She stood ready to run, bow notched in her hand.

One last horn sounded, and Artemis ran. She found and hit two targets with ease, ducking around a corner when she saw another contestant. Even though the rules said you weren't allowed to attack other contestants, there was always that one player who didn't care about the rule. It was just best to keep away from them in general. Not that Artemis wasn't up for a good fight, but all that it would end in would be a bunch of broken arrows and bloody knuckles, and her knuckles were still bruised and battered from punch Wally a few days ago. She had no desire to bloody them up again. Two horns signalled, informing them the hunters had been released. Artemis silently ran, weaving through the maze and shooting targets as she saw them. Some were farther up than others or at an angle or moved, but a target was a target to Artemis. Some she passed had arrows lying underneath in purple, red, or blue, the colours of the other three contestants. It seemed like she was the only one to miss a target yet. Artemis had shot about fifteen targets and was roughly three minutes in when she encountered her first hunter.

Anytime she turned Artemis would always look around the corner to be sure the coast was clear. This time when she turned found a hall with the first empty target she had found in a while. She checked to be sure it was empty then stalked in silently. She had aimed an arrow and was about to shoot when two paint balls hit the wall inches away from her torso. She shot the arrow by mistake and missed. Artemis ducked down and shouldered rolled, back around the corner. She cursed under her breath, her arrow long gone. Artemis peeked around the corner to have two more paintballs fly at her. But she was able to see where the shots were coming from. He was positioned on the top of the maze on his stomach, waiting for her with his crossbow in hand. After making a split second decision, Artemis shouldered her bow and backed up at the corner, touching the wall behind her. She bolted, running up and grabbing onto the ledge then gracefully she swung herself up. (Artemis was pretty sure it climbing the walls wasn't against the rules.) She laid on her stomach on the top of the wall, watching the hunter wait for her to appear around the corner. She stood up as quickly as she could and jumped across the hall without hesitating. She landed in a handstand, reaching out and snatching the green ribbon from the hunter's belt and flipping over to land in the hallway behind him. As she passed over to snatch the ribbon, the hunter was chuckling quietly, like he was surprised. The crowd roared. Artemis stood still, straining to hear the judge's ruling.

There were two high pitched beeps, signalling the capture would be allowed. The ref's voice came over the intercom, "Capture will be allowed. But please, Ms. Crock. No more jumping the walls." Artemis laughed and looked at the nearest camera and grinned. The cheering increased. Artemis went back to the corner and peeked around, finding the target. She shot it and walked away, checking her quiver. She had about fifteen arrows left and since she had hit all the targets but one that meant she had sixteen targets left. She'd have to assume her competitors were probably making better time than her, even though they had lost more arrows. She'd have to move quickly.

Artemis began to jog lightly, still checking around the corners before entering. She saw a hunter chasing another archer but they were so focused on each other, neither noticed her. A minute or two later a high pitched beep sounded, signalling that a player had been disqualified. Artemis guessed it was the one she had seen being chased. She moved a little faster.

Finally, she was on her last arrow and she was pretty sure she knew how to get to the exit. No one had finished yet but she had passed a few targets that had multiple arrows beneath it. She wasn't the only one who probably wouldn't be able to get all the targets.

Artemis skidded around a corner where she found the last two targets, one in front of the other. The exit sat at the end of the hallway. Artemis notched an arrow. Usually, there were hunters hanging around the exits but she had heard running a few halls over. Another archer had probably drawn him away, not realising she was helping Artemis. Artemis had silently thanked her with a condescending smirk.

Artemis jogged up to the targets and examined them. They were pretty thin and in exact line with each other. She suddenly had a crazy epiphany.

"Go big or go home," she muttered decidedly to herself. Artemis backed up and notched an arrow. She pulled it back as far as she could, all the way to her ear. She said a silent prayer and shot. The arrow flew through the first target, piercing it in the middle and soaring through to the next target where it buried itself in the second target. Artemis almost let out a victorious yell then remembered the hunter. She sprinted down the hall and out the exit. The buzzer sounded three times, signalling her exit. She whipped around to check her score from the big screen. It flashed for a moment then showed a large 15. Artemis punched the air and jumped. A perfect score. She couldn't believe it.

It took another ten minutes for the next girl to come out. Artemis was gone long before the third girl was even placed. She had gotten first place because all the other girls didn't use all their arrows and one was already disqualified. But Artemis was already done celebrating. They'd be awarding medals tomorrow, but she needed to figure out the clue for that to even happen.

She snuck off a few minutes after the second girl got out and found Wally. Then they slipped away together and to met the others outside. It was late afternoon by the time they got back to the castle, where Dick and Zatanna had stayed behind in the library. The others didn't even have a chance to make it upstairs to the library because the duo was hovering anxiously in the front entrance hall, waiting for them.

"Dick figured it out!" Zatanna exclaimed when they walked in the front door. She was grinning hugely and practically jumping from excitement. She held a piece of paper up victoriously.

"It wasn't all me. Zee helped too," Dick mumbled with a pink face.

"What does it say?" Conner asked, getting to the point.

"The letters of the sentence were just squished together then spread apart at random spots. The capital letters were just there to throw us off." Zatanna held up the paper to show them. "First, it said _Sth em Eetalg Nuard Gian Awatc Nheso Evert Ehem Uapi Qnt Ehee Hntra Tnceha ll. _We took out all the capital letters, s, e, n, g, a, n, e, e, u, q, e, h, t. Backwards, that spelled _The Queen Agnes._ Because, you now, Agnes was supposed to be cocky and all that. After we took away the capitals we had _th em etalg uard ian watc heso vert hem api nt hee ntra nceha ll_. We pushed them together we got this," She pointed to a long jumble of words on her paper: themetalguardianwatchesovert hemapintheentrancehall. "From there, it was easy to split apart. Once we spilt it up, we got the clue. _The metal guardian watches over the map in the entrance hall."_

Dick continued for her. "From there, it was all Zatanna. She figured out the metal guardian was that suit of armor. Inside the helmet was this." Dick held up a large yellow piece of paper. It curled, like it had been rolled up. Miraculously, it wasn't falling to pieces.

"Great job guys." Artemis said with a huge smile. Everyone mimicked her expression.

"I say we all get changed and meet here in ten minutes to search." Wally said, eyeing the girl's skirts and his sweaty shirt. "We won't be able to treasure hunt in this stuff."

"I agree. Ten minutes." Artemis said. The two groups split up.

They were all back in less than ten minutes, changed and ready to go. Artemis had changed into a black sweater and a pair of light green cargos.

"Where's the map?" Dick asked. He zipped his black hoodie over his red shirt.

"I've got it." Wally said. His short was bright mustard yellow and his pants were red, he looked like a giant bottle of condiments. He held up the map and everyone gathered in a circle around it. Wally unfolded it very carefully.

"_Begin at the tree that laughs._" Artemis read.

"What's that mean?" Conner asked, crossing his hands over his black t shirt.

"I know where that is! Come on." Zatanna said suddenly.

"We need to hurry. The others will be back soon and I wanna be there by the time they get back." Artemis said. Zatanna nodded and the group began to jog, led by Zatanna. They jogged across the driveway and through the front field until they got to the forest. They kept going (a bit more carefully) until they got to a tree that had three rough holes in it. Two were crappy circles and the third was a large oval-like shape with little spikes that looked like teeth, giving the tree the illusion that the tree was laughing at them.

"That's it." Zatanna said, pointing.

"For sure." Raquel added with a sure nod.

"Next clue. It's getting dark." Artemis said promptly. The sun was setting already and the school would probably be back by then. Rufus might even notice their absence and come poking around. Artemis had sent girls to tail him at all times, but the small, rat-like man still made her uneasy.

It was time to get moving. Artemis took off her back pack and began handing out flashlights while Wally read the next step off the map.

"Walk a hundred paces true East," he said. Artemis went and stood with her back to the tree.

"We should all count. Make sure you don't lose it." Wally said. Artemis nodded her agreement then began to walk, placing one foot in front of the other for a rough estimate. The others followed her lead silently, counting in their heads with her.

About ten minutes later, Artemis stopped. She looked up. Directly in front of her stood a large, pitch black cave. The sun had completely set about twenty paces ago and they all had to turn on their flashlights. The wind ran into the cave, it's screaming echoing inside.

Wally bumped into Artemis from behind, apparently absorbed in his counting. He mumbled his apology. Artemis watched him out of the corner of her eye as he looked up at the cave.

"Woah."

"What's the map say?" Artemis said.

"_Enter then continue down the passage._" He responded. The others had caught up and all heard the message. All the flashlights swung to shine down the cave, barely lighting five feet in. Artemis was reminded distinctly of the back of the chapel. She tried not to think of the half decomposed rat. Artemis took a deep breath.

She walked to the opening and looked over her shoulder. "Well, come on." When no one moved she turned around and propped a defiant hand on her hip. "I guess we could go back. Tell the others we were too scared to go down the deep dark tunnel to save the school. I'm sure they'd understand." Everyone began to follow her wordlessly.

They walked down the cool cave; the lights from the swinging flashlights gave it an eerie feeling. They didn't talk so the only sounds were their breathing and footfalls, accompanied by the dripping dew and the yelling wind. The ground was clear for the most part, which was great. If it had been like the chapel, it would take them forever to get through there. It took them ten minutes to reach their first fork in the cave.

"It says to go left then take three rights then two lefts." Wally told them as he held up the map and Megan shone her light on it for him. She tugged at the sleeves of her white t shirt; the red X on it seemed bright in the dark.

The group did as Wally said. About an hour and four hundred turns later, they reached a dead end. It wound higher and higher and higher, much farther than any of their lights could reach. A stone ladder had been carved and was somehow attached to the wall, with about just enough space for a person to fit on each side.

"Climb up and up and up, higher than any beanstalk." Wally read from the map.

"What's with this lay and fairy tales?" Raquel asked, tugging at her jacket.

"I was wondering that too, Raquel." Kaldur responded.

Wally looked up from the map at the ladder. "I'll go first. It looks pretty stable." He walked over and grabbed one of the handles then gave it a shake. It stayed stubbornly still, even with its age.

"Just wait a minute." Artemis slipped off the backpack and kneeled down beside it. "I have them in here somewhere," she muttered as she dug around in it. "Here." She took out a bunch of lights attached to a piece of cloth that could be tightened around their head, like miners would have on their hats.

"How'd you know to bring these?" Wally asked.

"Agnes is always prepared." Artemis told him as she handed them out. She raised a pointed eyebrow at him, fighting a smirk off her face.

Once everyone had a head light and had put their flashlights in the back pack, they lined up.

"Give me the bag." Conner was lined up behind Artemis, followed by Zatanna, Megan, Dick, Kaldur, and Raquel respectively. "It'll be easier for me to climb with it than you."

"You sure?" Artemis asked. Conner nodded so she handed it over. Honestly, she was a little worried about that. It had been heavy carrying it on the ground, it'd only be worse if she was climbing with it. Conner was bigger than her and stronger, it'd be easy for him.

Artemis let Wally get a few rungs above her before starting to climb. The ladder was a little slippery and cold but otherwise it was pretty solid and easy to climb. Artemis had to repeatedly remind herself not to look down. She wasn't scared of heights, but she knew after a certain point they wouldn't be able to see the ground anymore. All they would be able to see was complete blackness. Artemis had no desire to see that as she was climbing a slippery ladder in a dark tunnel.

They climbed for what seemed like forever, never talking, just focusing on breathing and climbing. It turned into a rhythm after a while. Arm, foot, arm, foot, arm, foot, arm, foot. Sometimes, her bare forearm would brush the cold ladder and goose bumps would rise on her skin. Once she had shivered from it and almost lost footing. She had been very careful to not do that again.

Every so often Wally would stop for a break and she'd do a roll call, calling out everyone's names to be sure they hadn't lost anyone. They kept the pace set by Wally for the most part, only slowing down at some points for everyone to catch up.

"Break." Wally called out suddenly. Everyone slowed to a stop and caught up with each other, breathing somewhat heavily.

"Conner?" Artemis said. Her voice echoed out down the tunnel.

"Here." He replied with his usual adamant voice called out.

"Zee?"

"Present!" She said happily.

"Megan?"

"Here." Her normally soft voice was a bit louder, a little more excited.

"Dick?"

"Yep."

"Kaldur?"

"I am here."

"Raquel?"

"Yeah."

"That's everyone, Wally." Artemis told him. She looked up, her light seemingly setting fire to his hair. "How long do you think this goes on for?" She asked that a bit quietly. She didn't want the others to hear if the answer was in the negative.

"Can't be much further." Wally looked up, his light getting the farthest of any of them. "The ladder seems to end a little farther up. That's when we get to find out if this was all just a wild goose chase." He looked down at her, tilting his head with an apology when his light struck her right in the face.

Artemis nodded her agreement. She didn't think the tunnel exit would be too far either, she also didn't think Agnes would make them come all this way for nothing. "You ready?"

"Yeah." He looked up again and called out, "Everyone ready?" There were no protests and Wally raised a hand but looked back down again. "Oh, and Artemis? Nice wristband." He started to climb before she could respond. Artemis felt her face heat up as she climbed, the warmth spreading to her cold limbs.

She was still wearing his wristband from the competitions earlier. But that was only because she forgotten to take it off. It was supposed to be good luck anyways. What was the harm in a little extra luck? She definitely wasn't wearing it because it was Wally's and it might've seemed a tiny bit good. No way.

About five minutes later, Wally stopped. "Guys! We've hit an end. There's some sort of trapdoor." He said excitedly.

"Can you open it?" Megan called up.

"I'll try." Wally went up the last few rungs and put his shoulder against it. Artemis aimed her light on the door for him. Wally pushed but it only went up a few inches. He lowered back down again. "I can't do it on my own. I need some help."

Artemis eyed the spot between the ladder and the wall. "I can help. Just lean away from the ladder a bit." Wally looked down quizzically but Artemis was already swinging around to the back of the ladder. She had to stay flush against it if she didn't want her back to brush against the cave wall and send cold fingers down her spine. Artemis climbed up the ladder and stopped where her and Wally's faces were parallel. Her toes brushed his shins and he moved his legs accordingly.

Artemis moved up and braced her shoulder against the cool lid of the tunnel. Wally did the same. Artemis had the advantage that she could let go loosely to lean on the back of the tunnel, while Wally had to hold on with both hands and try to push up the door at the same time.

"On three?" Wally asked. Artemis nodded, "One...two...three." They both shoved and the trapdoor moved up. They forced it over and Artemis moved down while Wally pushed the cover over more and climbed up and out of the tunnel. Artemis swung around the ladder and climbed up. Wally reached down his hand and he helped her into the room. Wally helped her to her feet while Conner pulled himself through the hole in the floor. He lifted Zatanna and Megan from around the waists with ease.

"So. Where are we?" Wally asked.

Artemis looked around. "I have no idea."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I'm going to keep this nice and short because I am exhausted. I am so sorry this is so late and I really hope you guys enjoyed it. I feel horrible for taking so long to update. Thank you so much for all your support and love and reviews and everything, they all mean so much. I'll respond to previous reviews soon, I'm home sick so I'd like to get some rest before that. Thanks again so much!**

**-RoyalVictory**

* * *

"Look around. Check the walls, the floors, the ceiling. Everywhere. There has to be a way through here." She paused. "Agnes was smart. She wouldn't just leave a map with no purpose. Not after all these clues." Artemis told them as Conner and Kaldur pulled Raquel through the hole; she was the last to climb up into the stone room from the ladder. "Wally, check the map."

The room the ladder had led up to was completely round with no windows and no doors. The only entrance was the one they came through, the one that led to the tunnel. The floor, wall, and ceiling were all made of the same generic gray stone with the same amount of dirt and dust covering it. There wasn't a single thing that stood out in the room but Artemis wasn't willing to give up just yet, not when they had came so far already.

Everyone split up and began feeling along the walls, the floor, and (for those tall enough) the ceiling. It wasn't long before they found the first hint.

"Guys, come here!" Megan said excitedly. They hadn't put the cover back on the tunnel so her voice echoed down it, giving the entire room an eerie sort of air. "Look at this. It looks like a pumpkin." Artemis hurried over. Megan had found a small picture of a pumpkin carved into the wall, hidden under the layers of black dirt and dust. It was at eye level and carved so crudely that it must've been done by a knife or a dagger after the room was built and the stone was in the wall.

"There is one here also. It looks like a...spindle." Kaldur spoke up. It was at the same height, directly across from Megan.

"Here. It's an apple." Dick said.

"There's one over here. It looks like, uh...lettuce?" Zatanna said.

"Some kind of animal. A frog maybe?" Raquel said.

Artemis thought for a moment. "These pictures are all at eye level. Check under the dirt and dust in the full circle, eye level."

Wally, who had been examining the map with his flashlight, called out suddenly. "I found the next hint. It's pretty faded but I think I can make it out." He leaned towards it, squinting. "'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.'" Wally grinned and looked up at Artemis, "Looks like she's addressing you, Goldilocks. How'd she know you'd be coming?" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"I've never heard that one before," was her dry response.

The others had finished clearing the dirt and dust at eye level, but there were no more pictures. Artemis looked at each picture again. They were all an even distance around the room, all at the same height, and all crudely carved by the same person with probably the same knife.

Artemis's eyebrows knitted together as she had an abrupt thought. It was like someone turned on a light in her brain, giving her a sudden epiphany. "A pumpkin, a spindle, an apple, lettuce, and a frog." She muttered to herself. Megan, who was still standing next to her, was the one person who heard her.

"Sorry?" She asked.

"A pumpkin, a spindle, an apple, lettuce and a frog." Artemis stalked around the room, pointing at each picture as she went. "A frog, The Frog-Prince; a pumpkin, Cinderella; a spindle, Rumpelstiltskin; an apple, Snow White; and lettuce." Artemis stopped in front of the last one, stumped. Why kind of fairy tale involved lettuce? She approached it, wiping it more with her sleeve as if some part of the diagram was missing and if she cleared the dirt and dust away, the answer would be written beneath. It was strange, everything else fit perfectly into a fairy tale except that lettuce. Artemis didn't know what to make of it.

Raquel appeared beside her. "Not lettuce. Rapunzel." Artemis looked at her then back at the carving.

"It's worth a shot." Artemis touched it lightly with her fingers, feeling along the edges. She took a breath and shoved it. The stone scraped slowly in and the sound of groaning gears filled the room. Artemis and Raquel stepped back as the wall opened, revealing a black hallway. It released about fifty years of dirt and dust into the teens' faces and a cold breeze swept through the room.

"I won't think any less of any of you if you turn back now." Artemis told them once she had finished coughing into her sleeve with the rest of them. She had gotten a bad feeling the moment the door opened. When no one said anything Artemis felt a twinge of relief. At least she wouldn't have to go at it alone.

Artemis unzipped her now filthy sweater and dropped it on the ground, revealing her dark green tank top. There were little goose bumps on her arms from the cold, but she'd get used to it soon enough. Being cold was better than wearing that huge and now filthy sweater, which was damp in the back from the tunnel wall.

"Conner, give me the bag." Conner walked over and handed it to her. She opened it and pulled out her collapsible bow and closed quiver of arrows. She pumped her arm forward and her bow opened. After checking it over quickly, she collapsed it and attached it to the back of her belt. She slung her quiver over her shoulder, letting the cover drop to the ground.

"You brought your bow?" Wally asked cheekily.

"Never leave home without it." She responded coolly, before returning to the bag. Artemis pulled Wally's wristband up over her elbow onto her upper arm and tightened her ponytail. Then she dug into the backpack more and began dividing the contents among them. Everyone got a flashlight to tuck into utility belts that were filled with contents that varied from compasses to flares. She gave specific objects to the girls: Raquel got the rope and explosives, Megan got lock picks and matches, and Zatanna got a can of pepper spray and climbing clips. Artemis dropped the empty bag, now useless.

She kneeled down on one knee and touched the floor in the room hesitantly; everyone behind her seemed to be holding their breath. Artemis had seen enough Indiana Jones movies to know this is when the hunting got really dangerous. The floor was unlike the stone beneath her, it had cracks and each rock was in a strange shape- like a puzzle piece but not so exact. Some would be big enough to hold two or three people, while others would barely hold one toe. They all had little drawings on them too. The one closest to her had a tree and the one to her left had a star.

"How much time to we have?" She asked everyone, not really knowing who would answer.

"Four hours. It took us forever in the woods to find the cave. Then another forty five minutes to climb that ladder." Dick answered. Artemis considered his words as she studied the floor while everyone else adjusted their new loads. Wally approached her.

"The map has another clue for this: 'One, two, three chances you hold. If I were you, I'd do as I was told.'" Wally read. Artemis stood up, picking up a loose stone.

"We have three chances. Might as well put them to use; let's see what these chances are." She threw the rock. It landed on a fairly large rock and skidded a bit, but stayed on the same tile. It had a picture of a spindle, like the one on the wall. The rock stayed there for a moment, before the room began to shake slightly. Then the tile dropped into complete blackness, taking two stones next to it.

"So we use up our three chances and that happens?" Megan asked.

"I'd rather not find out." Artemis answered.

"Do as we're told. What were we told?" Zatanna asked from behind them. Artemis bit the inside of her cheek, thinking the exact same thing.

"I know." Conner said. "We've only been told one thing by Agnes. The clues. We have to go in order of the clues."

Artemis nodded slowly. "Get rocks. Let's test this theory out." Wally handed her one and she examined the symbols, setting her flashlight on each one until she found a white heart. She tossed the rock and held her breath as it flew. It landed on its target and stayed. She counted to sixty in her head, watching the rock.

She took a deep breath. "I'll go first." Artemis said. Wally grabbed her arm.

"No, I will."

"Wally, I know these clues better than anyone. Trust me." She watched Wally's face go from ready to fight her to unhappy agreement.

"Fine."

"Thanks." Artemis looked back at the stones. "One at a time on each stone. Follow me exactly." She took a deep breath and carefully jumped to the heart. It didn't move and she looked back to nod at the others. Artemis examined the stones again. She found the rose and tossed a new pebble to it. When nothing dropped, she jumped to the next stone and Wally went onto the one she just vacated. It continued like that, Artemis always throwing a stone to be sure it was the right symbol to stand on. The next was a stove, then a large bed. Once when she threw the stone the symbol was so small that it bounced away, landing on a different symbol. The room shook slightly and that stone broke and fell, taking two or three with it, leaving a sizeable gap in the floor. Now Artemis was close enough to what was waiting beneath them. She wished she hadn't. It wasn't too far down but beneath them laid dozens of tall, sharp spikes ready to impale anyone who missed their stepping stone. Artemis pushed that to the back of her mind and kept moving.

They were making very slow progress, but progress all the same. Artemis would time two minutes for each rock she threw a stone on, then it took another few minutes to decide which rock to jump on. Artemis really didn't want to be wrong; they only had one chance left. The stones were getting further and further apart and smaller and smaller, making it all the more difficult to land on. Halfway through, Artemis was ready to send the others back but as soon as the last person, Zatanna, stepped onto the stone the door shut behind them. There was no going back now.

Artemis could see the end now, the only stone left to jump on was the smallest and farthest yet. It was a tiny suit of armor, no bigger than the palm of her hand. The rock she had thrown ever so gently had thankfully stayed on it. The only problem was she would have to land on it in order to get to the end, which was roughly five feet away. She was strategising her plan of attack when something hit the ground hard behind her, much harder than any of them had been jumping. She turned around to see Megan standing wide eyed, looking down at a stalactite. It had fallen down at her feet, barely missing her. But it did hit the wrong stone, piecing straight through it. The entire room began to shake and more stalactites fell, causing more stones to break away.

"RUN!" Artemis screamed. Everyone bolted for the end of the tunnel. Artemis made it there first, the others having the added obstacle of having to dodge stalactites and the crumbling floor.

Instead of another hallway or even a meter of space at the end of the tunnel, Artemis found herself on a tiny foot wide edge. There was a sudden drop off that was at least ten feet across to the other wall. At the other side of the gap about five feet down was another ledge with a tunnel opening. The ground beneath was covered in the same high spikes as beneath the stepping stones.

Artemis made a split second decision. "RAQUEL, ROPE." She had to yell over the collapsing tunnel. Raquel took it off her shoulder and threw it while she ran. Artemis caught it, then tied it hurriedly to an arrow. She said a quick prayer to anyone who was listening and shot.

The arrow hit a fat stalactite, wrapping itself around it and hooking onto a horizontal spike. It was more than Artemis could've hoped for. Conner got to the end of the tunnel as Artemis grabbed the end of the rope. She shoved it into Conner's hands and pointed to a platform. He took a breath and jumped off, swinging onto the platform. He landed on his shoulder and rolled, still holding the rope. Conner stood quickly and tossed it back. Artemis shoved it at Kaldur who also swung across. Wally shoved the offered rope away and at Raquel, who was caught by Conner and Kaldur. They tossed the rope to Dick who swung across. Artemis looked over her shoulder and found the tunnel was almost completely gone. The rapidly growing holes approached them quickly. Megan went next, then Zatanna. Only Artemis and Wally were left now, with barely a foot of space left. Artemis grabbed on with two hands.

"HOLD ON!" She screamed to Wally. He seemed to get the idea because he wrapped his arms around her. The floor gave away just was Artemis kicked off. They soared over the opening together. Artemis let go over the opposite ledge and they both fell, rolling over one another until they came to a stop five feet in the new tunnel. Wally lay on top of her, his hands on top of hers. Both were breathing heavily. Artemis leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing and get coherent words back into her mind, instead of the string of swears that currently occupied it.

"Nice thinking, Rapunzel." Artemis smiled and opened her eyes to see Wally's bright emerald eyes.

"I know." She responded. Wally laughed.

"If you two are done..." Dick said. They both looked up to see everyone standing over them, their flashlights aimed on the pair. Wally got up hurriedly then helped Artemis up.

Artemis found everyone had lost their head lights, including her. At least most of them still had their flash lights. Artemis took out hers from her belt and shone it down the hall.

"Only one way to go now. Be careful, we don't know if there's going to be anymore booby traps." The others nodded seriously and they crept down the tunnel. It was a relief to see that the floors were normal, unmarked stone brick, as were the walls. Still, they were all very careful, treading as lightly as mice. At the end of the hallway Wally pulled out the map.

"Down, down, down you go. Where you'll stop, oh I know." He read. They all looked down long stone stairs that occupied the rest of the hallway. When Conner shined his flashlight down the middle, all the teens could see was darkness. The group exchanged glances then started down the old stone steps. As they crept down them, they talked to try to beat out the creepy feeling that was edging itself into their minds.

"Where are we?" Megan asked, shining a light on a huge spider that climbed up the wall.

Artemis ducked under some web. "I've been thinking the same thing, and I think I've got it. We're in the castle." She paused and examined a stair. "That's a trick step. Don't step on it." She continued. "You know how the entrance hall is so tall? And the rest of the first floor is the same height as the other floors?"

"You think we're between them." Zatanna finished for her. Artemis nodded.

"There's nowhere else we could be. We might've even been in this tunnel before through a passage and just never realized it. Trip wire, watch."

"That'd explain where Agnes was all those years. She was in the castle making this place. It's how no one ever found her." Raquel said.

"She was right under their noses all that time." Dick added with a tone of admiration.

Artemis nodded. "They never even realized it." She was still holding her bow, an arrow notched. She didn't trust this place.

Every so often, Artemis would've sworn she heard something behind them. A few times, she even raised her bow and almost shot. Each time she chalked it up to a rat or mouse or something, angry at their house being disturbed. Still, it unnerved herm especially when someone else would look back at the same time she did.

After at the very least twenty minutes of descending those stairs, they met the bottom. Out of recently learned habit, everyone began to shine their lights around the room. The floor looked pretty solid, but then again so had the one upstairs. The walls had dozens of tiny little holes in them but no one really wanted to approach them to see what was inside. Artemis did the first thing she thought of: she drew an arrow and shot. It was purposely slow, and didn't even make it halfway down the tunnel. But it served its purpose well enough. It had barely stopped when about twenty darts flew out of the wall and pierced it with deadly accuracy.

"Run, run as fast as you can. My poison darts with catch you if you're not a fast man." Wally read off the map, Megan holding the flashlight on it for it.

"It looks like there's a lever at the end of the hallway. Turn off the lever, turn off the darts." Dick observed.

"How much time do we have?" Megan asked. Dick checked his watch.

"Forty five minutes until the deadline." Everyone stared a little hopelessly at the lever. Artemis didn't think any of them would be fast enough to out run the darts. Except for maybe...

"I'll do it." Wally's voice cut off her thoughts.

"No." She said immediately. "There'll be another way out of here."

"Artemis..."

"No. I'm not putting any of you at risk like that. I'll go. Zee, hold this."

"We both know I'm the fastest kid in the school."

"This was my stupid idea in the first place."

"Artemis, please. Trust me." Artemis tried to think of a good enough argument but came up empty handed. She nodded, "Fine. But you better be okay, fleet feet." She mumbled the last part, but she knew Wally had heard her.

Wally grinned and turned around. He stood ready and took a deep breath. Out of habit, he got on his mark, got set, and then he ran.

The darts shot after him, always just missing him as he sprinted even faster than he had at the race. He bolted past the holes, outrunning every dart. At the end, he couldn't seem to stop and skidded, hitting the wall.

"Ow." He said. Wally pulled the lever. There was another rumbling and Artemis braced herself for whatever was next. But instead of caving in or some kind of explosion, a stone cover slid past the holes in the walls, covering all of them. Artemis let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and took a tentative step forward. Nothing shot out at her so she continued walking, the others following close behind.

Wally was grinning condescendingly at Artemis. "Told you I was fast." Artemis punched his arm.

"Shut up, idiot. Let's keep going." But she was fighting back a smile. Artemis turned to the wall, where there was an opening for another stairwell. "What's the map say?"

"Nothing. That last clue was that. The last." Wally answered her.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Raquel asked.

Artemis looked down the hallway. There seemed to be some kind of light coming up the stairs from the bottom. "Let's find out." She stared down them very carefully.

The stairs were much shorter this time, only about ten in total. A huge wooden door sat at the bottom, ready to be opened. Artemis gripped the handle. "Say your prayers, guys." She turned it and pushed it with her shoulder. The door swung open and she had to shield her eyes from the sudden bright light. When she recovered, she moved her arm and gasped.

They were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewellery, coins, and art. It didn't seem to end, piled in high, unorganized stacks and scattered across the floor, covering every available surface. Light seemed to be coming from somewhere and reflected off it all, which was what blinded them. A few cabinets lined the walls, trying to hold in the endless treasure in vain. A few were even broken from the effort. Everything in the room was made of gold or precious jewels, from the coins and necklaces to the solid gold tub in the corner.

The realization hit Artemis like a train. They had found it. They had actually found the lost treasure of Saint Agnes. This mad, seemingly impossible search hadn't been for nothing. Artemis couldn't believe it. She looked to Wally, a smile breaking out onto her face.

"We found it."

"We did." He responded, his own smile growing larger and larger.

"We actually found it." She responded, still not quite believing it.

"And I'll have to thank you for it." A drawling voice interrupted them. Artemis's smile dropped from her face. She knew who it was without having to look.

Everyone turned around to find none other than Rufus Foster standing in the doorway. He was flanked by three men who could pass for professional wrestlers. And they were all holding guns. "Put your hands up. Now, no funny business. And drop that bow."

Artemis felt anger boil white hot inside her. They had gone all this way just to get robbed by this creep? No way. She stepped forward, her hands raised. "And why would we do that? There are eight of us and four of you. You're outnumbered two to one." Her words sent a spark through the others, and soon they were all voicing the same opinion, taunting him.

Rufus smiled calmly then shot a single bullet into the air. A hush fell over the room. "Simple," Rufus said, "If you don't listen, your fearless leader will get hurt." Rufus pointed his gun at Artemis. "Grab her." Two of his men stepped forward and grabbed her forearms before she could think. Artemis tried to jerk out of them and gritted her teeth. Her bow clattered to the floor.

"Let me go you fuckers!" She tried to wrestle her arms out of their vice-like grips but it was no use. These guys could probably take on an elephant and win.

"Here's some advice, Artemis. Don't try to fool me because it won't work." Rufus smiled arrogantly at her, waving his gun. Artemis didn't like how he was waving it so carelessly; the idiot was bound to hit someone doing that.

Rufus pressed the cool metal of his gun against her cheek and dragged it down, forcing Artemis to turn her head towards the entrance. Artemis refused to look away from him, her stubborn pride winning out over her logical side.

"Fuck you." She spat at him. Rufus clicked his tongue.

"I'd be careful what I was saying, Ms. Crock. This place is so deep into the castle and the walls are so thick. No one would hear you scream." His gun itched on her skin.

"Let her go!" Wally shouted suddenly, lunging forward. He was caught in a moment by one of the huge meat heads. Rufus made his way over and poked him with his gun. He had to reach up to poke his shoulder.

"I remember you. The boyfriend. The one she was kissing in the classroom that night." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Zatanna sent Artemis a look that very clearly said she wanted every detail. Rufus continued. "I think she called you "the hot head boy"? Or was that just a ruse?" Rufus looked between them. Artemis refused to look at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rufus smile. "So no ruse then? Very interesting." He walked over to Artemis and poked her in the stomach with his gun. "Did you know that a bullet to the stomach is one of the slowest, most painful ways to die?"

"Bastard!" Wally yelled before she could respond. He struggled hard against the brute, but it was no use. This guy could probably pick up Conner with his pinky finger.

"Wally, calm down." Artemis reassured him with a calm voice. She broke her glare at Rufus and looked over at him. "We're going to be fine. Agnes always has a plan," she said calmly. She earned a weak punch to the gut for that from Rufus. While she was talking, the third henchman had forced Conner, Kaldur, and Dick to their knees, apparently thinking they would pose a bigger threat than the girls. Artemis almost laughed.

"How'd you follow us, anyway? The floor collapsed." Artemis asked, a plan brewing in her mind. She just needed to keep him talking. It couldn't be that hard, especially with his over inflated ego.

"Simple. We always knew the entrance was in this forest, just not exactly where." Rufus told her with a smirk. He shoved his gun a little further into her stomach.

"You had mud on your pants that day you threatened me. You were searching the forest too, weren't you? Not just the school?" She said slowly.

Rufus smiled. "Of course I was. I want this treasure and it was just so much easier to follow you in here. After the floor collapsed, we climbed down a rope and simply walked around all the spikes. Well, my men shoved them out of the way. Then we used your rope to climb up to the ledge. It was simple after that; all we had to do was follow you quietly. You did all the work for us. Thanks, by the way." Artemis narrowed her eyes.

"I have a question, then. How do you plan on getting the treasure out of here? You can hardly go back the way we came." She told him a little triumphantly. Logically, there should be a second way out, one Agnes herself would've used if she needed a quick getaway, or if she set off her own traps by accident. But she didn't want him to know that.

"That's where you come in. You kids can carry it up for us."

"And then?"

"Then we lock you in here to rot. We don't need anyone knowing what happened to you." Artemis had nothing else to say so she decided it'd be a good time to put her plan into action. She spit at him, hitting him just beneath his eye. He glared and raised his hand to strike her, bringing it down onto her eyebrow. It must've spilt because it started to sting and she felt a warm liquid drip down around her eye. She fell down onto a pile of gold, accidentally hitting Zatanna as she fell, bringing her with her. Wally went berserk, shouting a string of curse words that the other boys quickly joined in on. It was more than Artemis could've hoped for.

Artemis pretended to struggle to get up. Rufus kicked her in the side, knocking her back down again. She could see her bow out of the corner of her eye, but it was too far to reach.

"Klutz," he sneered. Artemis turned her head slightly in Zatanna's direction.

"Ready?" She breathed.

"Always," Zatanna responded. Artemis groped around the pile of gold she fell on quietly until she found something heavy enough.

"Go." She said. At the same time, the two girls flipped over. Artemis threw the cup she had grabbed and hit Rufus in the eye while Zatanna pepper sprayed the two nearest henchmen. The other two looked momentarily startled, and Megan and Raquel took their window. Each took a man, knocking them down with a few graceful hits to their pressure points. Both guards fell unconscious.

Artemis stood up over Rufus and snatched his gun away while the other girls did the same with the henchmen. She gave Rufus a quick kick in his side.

"Here's some advice, Ratface. Don't mess with Agnes." She told him. The boys looked rather startled, Dick, Conner, and Kaldur were still on their knees and Wally's jaw was dropped.

Artemis pressed the gun's safety on and tucked it in the back of her pants then flipped Rufus over, pressing her knee down into the small of his back. Zatanna tossed her some cuffs from the henchmen that were probably meant to cuff the teenagers themselves. Artemis thought it was poetic justice.

Artemis cuffed Rufus and stood, facing a wide eyed Wally. She smiled. "What?" She asked innocently as Megan and Raquel cuffed the unconscious men. "I told you. Agnes always wins. Don't look so surprised." Wally closed his mouth then returned her smile.

"So, hot head boy huh?"

"Oh shut up and help me with this creep."

The teens double checked their bonds and moved them into the corner, where Megan and Zatanna kept an eye on them, confiscated guns in hand. Agnes had a shooting range that wasn't used exclusively for archery, so they had a pretty good handle on things.

The others started to look through the treasure, filling their pockets and utility belts with the most expensive items to get to Prince and Wayne right away. Artemis picked up her bow and examined it for damage. When she found none, she shouldered it.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Wally called out suddenly. Everyone but Megan and Zatanna answered his call. Wally had found a large black door behind one of the wardrobes. He tugged it open with Dick's help. It opened up to a black hallway that was soon illuminated by the light in the treasure room. More stone steps occupied the room, except this time they led up instead of down.

"What do you want to do?" Dick asked.

"Go up. What else can we do?" Artemis said.

"What about them?" Wally pointed to their attackers.

She considered it for a moment. "Time?" Artemis asked.

"Fifteen minutes." Dick responded.

"We'll hog tie them. We can't carry them up so we'll have to leave them here, we can call the cops if this leads back to the main castle." Artemis said.

The group split up into teams of two and hog tied the men with their extra handcuffs. Only Rufus gave them a bit of trouble, but it was easy enough to hold him down and get the cuffs on, being as scrawny as he was.

Once they were secure, the teens started up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a seemingly solid stone wall. But Artemis knew better than that by then, they all did. She felt around the wall until she found a symbol. This time it was in the shape of the classic pirate skull and crossbones.

After pressing in the stone, the wall opened revealing a very dark, very cold room. If they wanted to meet the deadline, they'd have to be quick. The walls were lined with cells and little rooms with bars on the windows. It was obvious they were in the dungeons and Artemis was just hoping the door wasn't barricaded from the outside to prevent students from going in.

They found the stairs with relative ease to and to Artemis's great relief, they were unlocked. The morning light glared at them through the windows in the hall and blinded them momentarily. Headmasters Prince and Wayne were a few feet away from them, facing a bank representative and both holding pens, ready to sign the school away to the bank. They all froze when they saw the slightly battered, completely filthy teens.

Artemis thought about how ridiculous they must all look. Conner in his black, ripped Superman shirt, Kaldur in his filthy red shirt and ripped black jeans, Raquel in her tattered jacket and dark blue shirt, Megan's white shirt was filthy with the red X standing out starkly against the grime, Dick's red shirt had a big roundish black mark of something on the side of his chest, Wally's yellow shirt had gotten a red smudge across the front that looked suspiciously like a lightning bolt, and the bottom of Artemis's green tank top had ripped off when she had rolled across the floor with Wally, exposing her abdomen. Her green cargos were ripped at the knee and her bow was held loosely in her hand, her quiver across her back. Artemis toyed with the idea that they all looked like a bunch of superheroes for a moment, with their strange colour combinations and the fact they looked like they had come back from some crazy mission. All they were missing were the masks.

"We found it." She said in a hoarse voice. She cleared her throat and spoke again, stepping forward and holding out the jewels. "We found the lost treasure of St. Agnes. And you don't have to sell the school." The other teens took the various gems and gold and held it out for them to see. Dick strode forward and plopped a fat ruby in the bank rep's hand.

"That should cover all the bills."

Megan and Zatanna walked forward and each put an arm around his shoulders, steering him to the exit.

"Thanks for coming!" Megan said as she and Zatanna pushed the bank rep out.

"Don't let the door slam you in the ass on your way out!" Zatanna called out cheerfully. Raquel took the bank statement from Prince and ripped it in half, then tossed it behind her. The two headmasters still looked flabbergasted.

"Ms. Prince, Mr. Wayne. Would you like to see some treasure?" Kaldur asked with a smile.

The teens led them back down to the chamber. Both Prince and Wayne were completely shocked at the sheer amount of gold, but something was missing.

"Where's Rufus?" Megan gasped as they walked in. The corner they had previous occupied was empty. Even their cuffs were gone. It was hard to tell if any gold was missing, but there was no doubt in Artemis's mind there was.

"Should we chase after them?" Conner asked. Wally shook his head.

"They'll be long gone by now." Artemis knew Wally was right but she was still pissed they had gotten away. They had been hog tied on _her_ orders and it was no one's fault but hers that they got away. She should've stayed back and watched them or something.

Artemis pushed it to the back of her mind for the moment. Everyone else had and they all moved onto celebrating the fact the school was no longer closing. Artemis joined her friends and Head Masters in smiling and laughing and helped recount their tale of finding the gold. Besides, Artemis had a feeling she hadn't seen the last of Rufus Foster quite yet.

Prince and Wayne took the rest of the day to pay off the bank and all other loans St. Agnes School for Young Ladies and Gentlemen had left. Then the two headmasters employed some students to help them gather all the treasure and move it into a new bank vault for safe keeping. The teenagers themselves had gone up to their dorms for much deserved showers and sleep (Artemis only went after someone had helped her clean up her eyebrow- no stitches but a couple bandages had to hold it closed).

News travelled fast about the teens' adventure, and soon the entire school was talking about it. Somehow the stories had built themselves up and now Artemis was legendary for shooting arrows mid-flight to save them all from gruesome deaths at the teeth of crocodiles, and it was rumored Wally had run faster than anything (some said he even broke the sound barrier- Artemis thought it was all very ridiculous).

A party had been organized on the roof that night to celebrate their success and St. Agnes being saved. The girls headed up there around eleven, wearing fresh uniforms. It wasn't really cold outside, with the combined heat of the entire student body the light breeze felt nice. They found the boys easily enough, despite the fact the place was packed with people and what light there was was dim and multi-coloured. A stage had been set up down the walkway a bit and the music poured out of giant speakers at incredible volumes. You had to shout to talk to the person next to you but Artemis found she didn't really care that much.

The boys were all wearing their uniforms and were leaning against the walls in a corner. When they saw the girls they waved them over and the girls had to fight through a mass of people to finally get to them. They all exchanged shouted greetings before everyone decided they wanted to get something to drink from the huge snack tables. Only Wally and Artemis stayed behind, neither really hungry nor thirsty.

"Enjoying the party!?" Artemis shouted.

Wally grinned, "Yeah! This is way better than our old chaperoned parties! Pretty wild, though!"

"Better get used to it! These usually happen every Saturday!" Wally laughed but Artemis wasn't kidding.

"How's the eyebrow?!" Wally asked. His fingers ghosted across the little bandages.

"It's just a scratch!" She told him, "I'm more pissed Rufus got away though!"

Wally nodded. "I know what you mean! I have this gut feeling he'll turn up soon, though!"

"Yeah, me too!" She responded.

"Uh...Artemis?" Wally shouted at her, sounding almost a bit nervous. Artemis looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"Good job today. Or yesterday. Whatever. I mean, it was brilliant how you figured out all you did and the whole rope swinging thing was pretty cool and how you took down Rufus with a cup was pretty awesome and-"

"Hey Wally?!" Artemis asked, interrupting him.

"Yeah?!" His face matched his hair.

"Shut up a minute." She grabbed his tie and pulled him down so she could attach his lips to hers. He stood frozen for a moment but eased into the kiss pretty quickly, responding with enthusiasm. Artemis dropped his tie in favour of snaking her fingers through his hair and Wally wrapped his arms around her waist. They remained like that for a good thirty seconds until they were interrupted. Someone wolf-whistled and the pair broke apart, jumping back from each other. Both of their faces were cherry red.

The others were back with the drinks and food and they were all smiling. Dick was the one who wolf-whistled.

"Well it's about time." Raquel said before biting into a chip.

Wally looked over at Artemis and gave her a look that said he agreed with her. Artemis punched him in the arm, trying but failing to not smile.

"Idiot." She said. Wally threw an arm around her and pulled her against his side.

"But a likeable idiot?" It was more a question than a statement. Artemis rolled her eyes but kept smiling.

"Unfortunately."

* * *

**That's it folks, I hope you liked it! I purposely left it open ended for you guys to decide what comes next. There is also the possibility for a sequel, but unfortunately it will probably be a while before my next multi-chapter story. Thanks so much for reading guys!**


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